ST 140 ruminations II – Dē praeparātiōne

Spot one difference.

An old humorous story by Ander z Košíc has him buy his wife a prohibitively expensive fur coat, only for her to start complaining that the fur coat "bites" after they leave the store. After they return to the store and make a proper scene, it is discovered that the woman had put the coat on herself with the hanger.

Too hilarious to even sound true, right? Yet, this is exactly what happened to me. I packed my new poles with the protective covers for the tips and somewhat forgot about their existence. After the race, they looked like the pole on the top. (The bulky stuff is dirt packed inside the perforated protective cap.) The bottom pole is a "near-mint" state – washed and without the cap. Of course, the presence of the caps during the race explains why I felt the poles slip unexpectedly a few times!

Laugh, o my heart. And test your equipment before the race next time.

ST140 ultra ruminations I

 

 

There shall come an hour when I will retell my experience from Štefánik ultra in a narration. For now, I will present a few observations. 

Sober Reflecting

The weather wane at Lord's Cricket ground. (Wikipedia / Hamilcarsouth)

 

"Do you feel like returning the medal?", I was asked right after the race. It was a shrewd question given that my previous attempt was 57:04 minutes and my current one was 1:06:47. 

How do you feel?

Created by Abel M'Vada. Thanks to Sapo for showing me the video.

How does one feel when they are moving house? How to express some of these hard-to-track, hard-to-understand states of the mind if you cannot put a name on them? 

Music – without lyrics – is a good medium for such expressions. These are the pieces I played right before I left my old flat.

Bourrée in E minor (from BWV 996) is a notoriously known piece by J.S. Bach. Forget about the Jethro Tull version if you can and imagine the stately procession of tonesThe fact that the piece keeps moving can be felt even on a solo line. And I also find it non-committal in its mood.

 

My colleagues and neighbours have heard me play Podzimní (An Autumn Tune) many a time. Tichota's adaptation from a renaissance lute tab speaks of melancholy.

The lyrics (Malá and Tichota) also reflect passing of the time and disquiet in the soul. And even these are the underlying tones, the bridge is uplifting and playful.

 

And the biggest all-time recorder hit. Daphne (or Doen Daphne d'over schoone Maeght in full) is a real deal for a lover of old music. Granted, every recorder player and their dog know Jacob van Eyck's masterpiece, but it is so awesome it would be churlish if they did not. It has a hauntingly sweet melody and it subtly changes and shifts from one part to another. It is also fun (read challenging) to play. And what what does it communicate? Lyrics aside, based on the fact that main motif keeps coming back, it has a feel of permanency but one of a change as well. Evolution and reinvention? 

Let's see what I will play in the future.

The world has changed ... but not everything has

Photo by Getty Images (July 8, 2020), published on espncricinfo.com

Here comes Holder, Stokes defends.

I have not heard anything alike for months. We went through not seeing friends and loved ones for weeks (we call it social distancing), online operation in my boarding school, virtual graduations, and pub parties. New governments have been formed, and statues have been toppled.

The world has changed. Let's hope that it has been for the better – although seeing what inspiration and good can come out of the corona epidemics (still ongoing) requires a more skillful visionary than me. 

In some aspects, we have already adapted. For example, the ECB have found a way of organising international cricket matches. For those interested in logistics and organisational hassle, this would be quite a story. For me, the most important aspect was hearing the familiar voices of Tuffers and Aggers on TMS. And while I understand that the experience of hearing the TMS voices carries little significance for the ones unfamiliar with game, the return of the game which was last suspended in World War II marks a milestone. (Personally, I feel privilege and joy from being a mere listener.) 

What about the evolution in matters other than biosecurity? Last but not least, for many years anything "political" was frowned upon or banned outright by the administrators. So the act of taking a knee by players and official in the 1st Test might signify a new understanding that shared values must be embraced and upheld globally.

Crawley goes: England four wickets down.