This is a soundtrack for 6 minutes out of time. At this winter solstice, when slowing down and going inward is nature’s prescription, this is here to support you.
From what I’ve seen, the world is not going to slow down for us to catch our breath. For this, we have to use our own tools, and I’ve got one to share that has been used for thousands of years: the sound of the drone. A steady hum that supports the body and nervous system. The instrument making this sound is called a Shruti Box, and it’s used most frequently as an accompaniment to instrumental and vocal spiritual music in India. Here’s a 6 minute recording of the drone:
(Lots more of these drone recordings here)
“Sea of Snakes”, featured a couple weeks ago, landed on all the streaming platforms this week. It’s a wintery, inward song to support your nesting
listen on: Spotify – Apple Music – Amazon Music
Finally, perhaps interesting to some, a story about a bicycle project that spanned summer solstice to winter solstice this year. Photos of the results below ⬇️ .
Again, speaking of slowing down… my wife and talk a lot about what we think we would be able to get done if we were still living our LBK (life before kids). Sometimes the relative lack of “productivity” feels like being stuck, other times we see the cosmic humor, and we can laugh about it. But something I set my mind to this year was to try a slow and steady approach to finishing things, even if they seem like they will take an unreasonable amount of time, given the amount of free time we have.
One of those projects this year was my goal to rehab my bicycles, and bring them into sync with my current body, and how I ride them. Starting with 2 bikes I bought in 2008, that meant making them more upright, and replacing worn components. I don’t use a cycling computer, but being a bicycle commuter and occasional cycle tourist for about 15 years in the Bay Area, I conservatively estimate the mileage on both bikes to be over ten thousand miles each. Right around summer solstice, I began making a spreadsheet. About a month later I made my first orders of parts. I started with the single speed, “uprighted” the bars for a comfortable cruiser ride, lowered the gear ratio to make it more knee-friendly, and replaced the brake levers and cables. I got to test it out with a 25 mile ride over hilly terrain, and it felt great.
Next was my tank of a touring bike. The gears were quite worn, missing some teeth where the chain rings had bashed curbs over the years. I set up a new, even more upright cruiser style bar, replaced the gears and cables, and put on easier gearing (and even went full on counter-culture, going from 9 speeds in the back, to 7). Finally, a swap of the brakes from cantilever to v-brakes, which involved also new brake levers and cables.
Having two young kids at different schools has brought in a very rich palette of immune system invaders, and we’re juggling various winter ailments. But once we’re all feeling good again and there’s a break in the rain, we’ll be back out on the streets, giving these new steeds a chance to run!
A week of peace, and joyous holidays to you,
Alex