CORVID CONNECTIONS

And a whole lotta links. Sometimes there seems to be a train of events, snippets coming in unbidden, that have a special resonance, a sort of synchronicity. Maybe this is always so and I don't notice.

I've just finished the month-long Barefoot Breathing put together by our Blip-friends ((Flowerpirit and Jay's Wildscapes.) One of its profound effects has been to connect me more deeply to patterns in nature, so that just walking down the street becomes an adventure. Which way will the wind blow? What plants will peek from cracks in the pavement? It reminded me to expect the unexpected.

I heard a snippet on Radio 4 (fast forward to 24 minutes for the juicy bit) about collaboration between the scientists at the large hadron collider at Cerne, a Professor of Comparative Cognition (what a job title!) and the Rambert Dance Company. I was all ears, neutrinos being one of my favourite things in the whole wide world, just the idea of them entirely captures my imagination. They started speaking about physicists suggesting to dancers that, in theory, there was holes wherever they placed their feet, going right through the earth. That was when I got goose-bumps.

As a child I had a recurrent nightmare that a black hole would open wherever I tried to place my foot. Was I a nascent physicist? I'd always thought this dream represented the uncertainties of my childhood. Neat reframe.

There was more. The Prof began talking about her collaboration with Rambert as Scientist in Residence (another cool job title) and their current production 'Seven for a secret never to be told.' This is a rhyme about magpies quoted by a friend when we saw not the usual one, two or three magpies in a park. They just kept appearing till there were ten in all. As she recited the lines we realised we'd just been talking about family secrets and their power.

I Googled Nicky Clayton (she of the covetable job titles) and found this fabulous clip of Corvids dancing the Tango!. It is sheer delight. Then Rambert - their production will be in Glasgow in a couple of weeks. I cannot not see it.

These corvids flew up on cue just as I arrived at my sit-spot. I needed to post today to direct anyone who stops by to this fantastic blip.. A gift for me after I'd squealed in delight at an earlier image of a Bower bird. So very kind of Pennultimate, and a stunning capture of a beautiful bird. All the rest (above) was just icing on the cake.