The Classics are the brilliant one-day cycling races held each spring, mostly in Belgium.  This Sunday, one of the most famous ones is happening … the Ronde van Vlaanderen, whose history goes back to 1913.  It features brutal cobblestone climbs for the women and men racers.

The Paterberg is 360 metres long, with an average gradient of 13% and a maximum of 20!

I will be there on Sunday

The men do the climb twice, at approximately 3:30 and 4:30, while the women pass by once, at about 5:30.  Am I really willing to do what it takes to get there … all for three experiences of a few minutes each?  YES!

I’ve been making copious notes about how I’ll make this happen.  Here’s one page of four:

#11 is the eleventh climb in the men’s race – the Paterberg.  The organizers give approximate arrival times, depending on whether the average speed is 40, 42 or 44 kph.  They’re starting in Antwerp, rather than Oudenaarde, since their race is a lot longer than the women’s.

I have a dilemma.  Do I take the train from Gent to Oudenaarde in time to see the women’s team presentation at 11:45 and then the beginning of the race at 1:25?  Or do I skip all those festivities and take the shuttle bus to the Paterberg climb once I arrive at Oudenaarde train station at around 10:00?

The second choice gets me to the Paterberg four to five hours before the men come by the first time (!)  However, that would likely guarantee a great viewing spot, right up against the barrier, as the cyclists come sweating by.

The first choice has me see the beginning of the race, and feel the energy of more than a hundred riders and thousands of spectators.  Cool!  It also eliminates the shuttle bus as a way to get to the Paterberg.  The last outward bus leaves at 1:15.

I’ve figured the timing for the regular paid bus and a half-hour of walking.  I’d need to be speedy quick after sending off the riders in order to catch that bus.  If I miss it, I’ll have a very long walk to the Paterberg.  But I’m willing.

Trouble is, if you look at the first photo, you see all those cheering people.  If I see the opening celebrations in Oudenaarde, I could have twenty people standing in front of me on the Paterberg.

(Thinking)

Okay … I’ve made an executive decision.  I want it all.  I’ll be in Oudenaarde for the team presentation and the liftoff.  And somehow I’ll find a spot on the Paterberg to cheer my lungs out for my favourite riders.

***

Playing big feels great

And here comes Sunday

I was sitting this morning with my friend Larisa.  She has trips coming up – one to Paris to meet with suppliers for the company she owns with husband Bart.  A second somewhere else for the same purpose.  And a third with the family to Bonn, Germany to celebrate her son Philip’s tenth birthday.

There was no doubt which one made her smile … precious time with Seba, Philip and Bart.

A few months ago, Larisa figured out what makes her happiest in life: being a good mother to her children.  Feeling the love flow.  Seeing them grow into marvelous human beings.

I asked Larisa if she ever imagines her sons as 40-year-old men.  Her answer was “Yes” – with them taller than her, muscular and hairy.  I told her about one of my favourite books, a story for kids called Love You Forever.  It was written by Robert Munsch.

The illustrations run the gamut of human life.  Earlier you saw the first one.  Here is the last.  They say it all:

***

Larisa is on a lovely journey

Some of it in the past

And much to come

There I was in Dutch class yesterday, in my usual Saturday morning state of mind – not understanding the learnings communicated in a language new to me.  Jelle, the teacher, is good at seeing my confused facial expressions.  She gave me a short explanation in English.  Still not absorbed.

I asked Jelle to continue the lesson, so the apparently faster learners wouldn’t be inconvenienced.  That was nice of me … but I just kept sinking into the “not knowing”.

At the break, Jelle told a small group of us that in her last Level Two class only 24% of the students passed.

!

Oh my.  What do I do with that?  There’s my perception (probably inaccurate) that I’m the slowest learner in the class.  So how is the me called Bruce going to pass this thing?!

I don’t know.  If I fail the exam in June, I’ll start Level Two again in September.  Not the end of the world.  And for the next twelve weeks, I’ll give ‘er all I’ve got.

I want to have simple conversations with Belgians who don’t speak English.  That’s the light that shines before me.

***

There’s a strange beauty in not being good at something

In quivering on the edge of pass or fail

May the vibration continue

As a young adult, one of my favourite novels was Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse.

I didn’t know where to go in life but I knew my life had to be big.  Books pointed the way … many ways.  This particular paperback novel grew to be well thumbed in my hands, worn and folded.

Here’s the gist of the story:

“In Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse, we journey into the contrasting lives and philosophies of two medieval men.  Our story begins in a monastery, where Narcissus, a gifted academic and ascetic monk, recognizes the restless spirit and individualistic drive in his pupil Goldmund.  While Narcissus devotes himself to studying and spiritual pursuits, he recognizes that Goldmund has a contrasting destiny and encourages him to leave the monastery in pursuit of artistic and sensual pleasure.

With Narcissus’ encouragement, Goldmund embarks on an exploration of the outside world, a realm teeming with sensuality, art and the fleeting beauty of life.  Through these experiences, he revels in the pleasures of the flesh and discovers his talent as a gifted sculptor, crafting artistic renditions of the human form.  Goldmund’s world becomes one deeply rooted in senses, emotions and capturing the transient beauty of life through his craft.”

Ah yes.  My mind was vibrant even way back then, and my fingers yearned to be.

Many decades later, I have expressed my divinity in voice, piano, guitar and cello, with a small dabble of batik.  All this as the spirit climbed … alone and in connection with beloveds.  The two views remain friends.

I’ve forgotten the flow of dialogue between Goldmund and Narcissus but I smile when their moments return to me softly.  A few minutes ago, I wanted to share with you something that Goldmund said, something that would shine on our faces.

And I found what I was looking for:

I believe . . . that the petal of a flower or a tiny worm on the path says far more, contains far more than all the books in the library.  One cannot say very much with mere letters and words.  Sometimes I’ll be writing a Greek letter, a theta or an omega, and tilt my pen just the slightest bit.  Suddenly the letter has a tail and becomes a fish.  In a second it evokes all the streams and rivers of the world, all that is cool and humid, Homer’s sea and the waters on which Saint Peter wandered.  Or becomes a bird, flaps its tail, shakes out its feathers, puffs itself up, laughs, flies away. You probably don’t appreciate letters like that very much, do you, Narcissus?  But I say: with them God wrote the world.

***

Thank you, book companions of the past

Welcome to the present

And what of the future?

As opposed to “in here”.  Throwing myself into life, arms splayed, tongue out.  Rather than all contracted, tight into a ball, blocking the outflow.

What you see is one of the iconic photos in Canadian history.  Our Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has just finished meeting with Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom.  As she and her entourage turn to leave, Pierre does a pirouette behind them.  Protocol be damned!

I love Pierre, even now so many years after his death.  He lived large.

I want to do the same.

A few weeks ago, a writer friend of mine asked if I wanted to hear about the novel she was working on.  I smiled and said “No”.  And then I proceeded to listen.  But where did that word come from?  It just bubbled up my throat.  Is that you, Pierre?

And then the day before yesterday, a conversation about seagulls turned into a lap of the restaurant, me flapping my wings all the while.  I passed a few coffee drinkers looking up to me … and kept flying.  Why not?

Just so you don’t see me as a totally free spirit, please know there is one potential that I’ve so far closed down.  My dream has been to sing from my balcony over the Oudburg, serenading the folks strolling below.  That dream is over a year old now, and not a single note has flowed from my mouth.  (Sigh)

***

Surely Pierre too had his moments of contraction

But I know he returned to the dance

My cello lesson is this afternoon.  My newest piece “Meditation” presents challenges – new positions for my left hand on the neck of the instrument.  As a teenager, I played in First Position and Fourth Position.  That was it.  “Meditation” introduces me to two versions of Second Position and to Third Position.

Here’s a diagram showing some of it:

You see the four strings of the cello running vertically.  Look at the string on the right (A) and follow it down until you see “Re”.  In First Position, I put my fourth finger down to hit that note.  Easy.  But in Upper Second Position, I shift my hand and play the note with my second finger.  In Third Position I use my first finger.

Before last week’s lesson, I studied this a lot, which led to an exploding brain.  I got so mixed up … and that was clear as I tried to play the piece during the lesson.  It was embarrassing to play poorly.

At which point my teacher Lieven stopped me.  I was invited to feel the melody on a piano, see what finger was written on the sheet music for a certain note, and then slide the finger on the string till the sound matched what the piano said.  “Forget the positions!”

Woh!

I was being asked to dismantle the scaffolding, lean into my cello and fall into melody.  Inside my head was a message: “Let go, Bruce … and now some more.”

***

I moved my cello into the bedroom, where my keyboard lives.  For the past few days, I bounced back and forth between the two instruments so my body could absorb a bar or two of the melody.

And then yesterday in Music Theory class, Jan (a friend and classmate) showed me an app called “Perfect Piano”.  Now I can set my phone on the music stand.  As I sit with my cello and read the sheet music, I can play a short of stretch of melody on the phone keyboard.  Much better!

***

I’ll practice some this afternoon before my lesson.  And then I’ll sway into “Meditation” with Lieven and my classmates, moving through the good notes and bad, “positionless”.

Hopefully with a wee smile on my face

The first thing I need to say is that I haven’t seen a single seagull this morning.  I miss my friends.  They fly so sweetly … and I can’t fly at all. 

I’m sitting in front of a giant window as I write.  I’ll let you know if friends show up.

***

Lying in bed this morning, these words came:

Bruce, you wrote a post a few days ago that was lovely.  You said something that was so true for you.  But there’s a new danger in those words, and you need to clarify the situation with more writing.

Huh?

I have no idea what I’m saying

I’ve looked back at my recent posts and I still have no clue.   Did I dream this stuff up?

Often I’m swimming in a space of “not knowing” … roaming around in my head, tilted, even upside down.  I’ve discovered that it’s not a problem.  I just have a lot of loose moments.

In our Evolutionary Collective meetings on Zoom, we’ve learned to do a practice where the possibility is great that we’ll connect deeply with another human being.  Often we’ll do two 15-minute practices, each with a different person.  A common experience I have is to quickly forget who I practiced with.  What is that about?  It seems like such a diminishment of the other.  But I have no ill will towards them.  They just … disappear from my mind.

Years ago I was great at remembering names.  Now that usually has faded away.  I don’t think it’s old age.  My life has become more porous, like a white lace tablecloth.

So frequently I’m walking in a spiritual mist, not knowing what’s up and what’s down, seemingly not located in time and space … dissolving.

***

So there you have my current state of Bruce

Focus will no doubt return when it feels like it

I’m in no hurry

***

Still no seagulls …

I’m in the middle of an experiment.  It’s about money … one twenty-euro bill.  Several times now I’ve dropped it on the floor of Izy Coffee, just to see what would happen.  But my friend and barista Arjen keeps picking it up and giving it back to me.  My friend Geert just did the same.  So now I’ve dropped the bill in a less conspicuous part of the floor.

I wonder what you’re thinking as you read this.  Perhaps some version of “crazy”?  How about “stupid”? 

The bill is sitting where I can’t see it.  Maybe someone has already picked it up.  But I’ll just stay here on the couch a while longer.  How cool to not know what’s happened!

A few years ago, I did a similar experiment at Niagara Falls in Canada.  Twice I was the host for two young people – one pair from Belgium and one from Canada.  Both times, at the edge of the Falls, I took out a twenty-dollar Canadian bill … and tossed it into the flow of water.  Especially one pair of 20-year-olds didn’t find it funny.

Okay, I can’t resist.  Here I am getting up and peering around the corner of the counter.

The bill is gone!

And I start laughing.

***

Am I willing to be considered crazy? > Yes

Am I willing to be considered stupid? > Yes

Am I one or both of those? > Possibly

I’ve spent a lot of my life being concerned with how the world is responding to me.  In my lingo … energy in.

Do you like me?

Will I be given what I need to be happy?

How do I deal with the bad things that come my way?

I’ve learned to raise my hands to shield the face from the troubles that are fast approaching.  Not a recipe for happiness.

***

Or …

Energy out

What leaves from me and flies out into the world?  More and more I feel the need to go towards rather than backing away from.

Words come that feel true:

Give

Express

Discover

Nose-to-nose

***

And in the moment, this happens:

I’m looking out the window at Izy Coffee and a young couple are walking by with their young one in a stroller.  A sky blue balloon falls off and rolls away, unseen by the adults.

I stare fascinated as the small roundness bounces along the cobbles … and then stops.  The couple have disappeared from my view.

After a pause of maybe thirty seconds, I see my body rising from the couch and going outside.  A balloon is gathered up.  I start walking in the direction I guessed the family went.  I don’t see them.  I keep walking.

I see them!  I catch up.  I extend the light blue.  Her eyes widen.  She thanks me with words and a smile.

I return to my cappuccino.

***

I choose energy out

It was my privilege many years ago to see Leonard Cohen in concert.  He loved his songs.  Sometimes he would kneel on the stage as the words kept flowing.  Then he would remove his hat and hold it to his chest.  I saw love there … for the lyrics, for the melody, for us, for life.

I want to sing for people.  I want the songs to reach the audience hearts.  I want each person to feel entered by something marvelous.

This song is “Hello In There” – written and performed by John Prine.  It welcomed me decades ago but I never was brave enough to sing it for anyone.  That has changed.

I love the message: don’t exclude old people.  Welcome them into your fold.  I wonder if the young folks will open to the words of the song.  Hearing it, will they go towards the homeless person lying on their mattress in a doorway?  Or will they continue what the past has been … averting their eyes and walking briskly by?

Will souls be touched by the trembling of my voice, the sweetness of the poetry, the lilt of the melody?  I hope so.  There is much to love in the world.

So here is “Hello In There”.  Perhaps I will sing it for you someday soon.

We have an apartment in the city
Me and Loretta like living there
It’s been years since the kids have grown
A life of their own, left us alone

John and Linda live in Omaha
And Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean War
And I still don’t know what for, don’t matter anymore

You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
But old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say “Hello in there, hello”

Me and Loretta, we don’t talk much anymore
She sits and stares through the back door screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream … that we’ve both seen

Someday I’ll go and call up Rudy
We worked together at the factory
What would I say if he asks “What’s new?”
“Nothing, what’s with you? Nothing much to do”

You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
But old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say “Hello in there, hello”

So if you’re walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don’t pass them by and stare
As if you didn’t care, say “Hello in there, hello”