by December 2023
With many thanks to Hermann Hesse and his poem “Stufen” (engl. “Steps”) with a translation by JulitaBonita. Also, thanks to Wassily Kandinsky for the image “Study for Improvisation 28 Second Version”, 1912.
Here is the complete poem translated into English, it is a moving and thought provoking piece 🙂 :
“Steps” (German: “Stufen”) by Hermann Hesse:
As every blossom fades
and all youth sinks into old age,
so every life’s design, each flower of wisdom,
attains its prime and cannot last forever.
The heart must submit itself courageously
to life’s call without a hint of grief,
A magic dwells in each beginning,
protecting us, telling us how to live.
High purposed we shall traverse realm on realm,
cleaving to none as to a home,
the world of spirit wishes not to fetter us
but raise us higher, step by step.
Scarce in some safe accustomed sphere of life
have we establish a house, then we grow lax;
only he who is ready to journey forth
can throw old habits off.
Maybe death’s hour too will send us out new-born
towards undreamed-lands,
maybe life’s call to us will never find an end
Courage my heart, take leave and fare thee well.
Job update:
So, what’s up in my small world? The job I started in October 2021 after we moved is coming to an end and a new job is set to start at the beginning of January 2024. I haven’t written much here about the current job for various reasons but, suffice it to be said, that I am leaving it with a mixed bag of feelings. I have definitely learnt a lot there, particularly about social medicine in a German context also a good deal about treatment of chronic pain in a practical context and a good deal about management structures in health systems with their potential for positive and negative follow-ons. Those who know know and I shall more or less leave it there now!
Horse update:
So, with a bit of new magic dwelling, I shall march forth into the mists of the future. We have also decided that it is time to part with our horse which is a bit sad because the “beast” has really grown on us in the last years but my older daughter is moving away and it needs a new and capable home.
The past year from a green perspective:
The last year had two state elections in Germany both on the 8th October and both were, from a green point of view, certainly sobering if not seriously disappointing.
The green party lost several percent in both elections. This was attributed in some part to their involvement in the federal “traffic-light” coalition but I personally don’t agree that this was the only major factor. The campaign appeared to me to be underfinanced although there are good reasons for this. The political profile of the party needs a serious update and some serious thought about who the future voter base should be and how to reach them is necessary. I was also a candidate in a rather low-key part of the election and did surprisingly well 🙂 but didn’t get anywhere near to being elected.
About ten days later…
Continuing, the phone rang as I was placing the link above and my dad informed me of an acute health problem at their end of the line, thus I am now going to try to get this publishable 🙂 . Numerous miles have been covered in the car since the phone-call but, most importantly, the health crisis appears to be recovering, albeit slowly, so fingers crossed!
Back to the Greens again
From a German Green point of view it was certainly not an annus horriblis but certainly an annus that one is glad to have behind yourself (so to speak). In my view it was a potential turning point which needed to be recognised as such in that the Green movement in Europe has to be fundamentally inclusive. Additionally, it cannot stay a movement with a few clear associated issues but needs to be broad and interesting movement for many different groups of people. I believe it needs to become a party that puts social and health issues on an equal footing up with all ecological concerns . This could put the party firmly in the mainstream and not on a broad fringe.
Considering that my election campaign was squeezed in between work and family and was generally a bit thin on the ground I did alright 🙂 . I think that with a bit more effort, time and backup more could be achieved…
Work Update
First week of the new job went alright so we shall see how it plays out in the next few months. I must admit that it is nice not to have any on-call times, no weekends on-call, no public holidays on-call et cetera et cetera…
Plans…?
I have a few! But I must admit that with family health issues, new job and Christmas school hols I have been fairly busy and haven’t had time to hatch many plans. Am toying with the idea of uprating the suspension on the Guzzi as fairly terrible but is no more than an idea atm. I did manage to get the mainstand to touch down whilst upright and two-up in autumn so something is not right…
here’s a few things re suspension I have found… 😉
Wilbers Fork Spring – Zero friction – progressive
Wilbers progressive fork springs friction” Friction reduction through fine grinding, resulting in »ZERO friction«.
In vibratory finishing, the components to be machined, e.g. components, e.g. our fork springs, together with a specially together with a grinding wheel specially adapted for this in a vibrating container, the so-called trough vibrator.
The vibrations of the container generate a relative movement between the workpiece and the grinding wheel and, due to the constant rubbing against each other, lead to a smoothing of the component surface.
At the end of the processing there is a fine, shiny surface. Particularly with our fork springs, this reduction of the surface roughness means a minimization friction = ZERO friction.
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