Class 13: Apocalyptic Windmills

Class 13: Thursday 28th June 12.30pm, taught by Harbinder


Arrived in the muggy heat of a sticky June day, and emerged a couple of hours later into a full-blown monsoon, having squeezed past the assembled group by the front door who were waiting for a lessening of the torrent.  Presumably these are the type of people who leave more than the time actually required to get anywhere, to, er, get anywhere.  My life, being incompatible with relaxed meandering, required me to leave immediately.  Can't remember the last time I walked through rain like that, and it was not entirely unpleasant, although I didn't enjoy the squelching of my shoes, but I quickly realised that I need not have bothered with the shower, so thorough was the soaking!  The thunder and lightning was a little disconcerting, although the thought that someone not too far away was running with a big metal olympic torch held aloft towards the crazy electric sky made me feel a little safer.  I hope they were wearing rubber gloves.


Driving through it turned out to be even more hazardous.  There were a few loud cracks and I wondered for a moment if lightning was hitting the car, but it turned out to be huge hailstones.  Hailstones in June, on one of the warmest days we've had this 'Summer'.  As I drove alongside Victoria Park there was massive flooding, running towards the houses on the other side of the road, and a couple of students in swimming trunks doing I don't know what in the middle of the road as though they were skipping amongst the fountains at Somerset House.  There were little spurts of water emerging from all the manhole covers and the water was up to the height of the all the cars' tyres.  This could only mark the beginning of the apocalypse, I thought, as I planned that I would have to quickly find my daughter's wellies for gardening club in the single minute I would have at home to change my clothes again and get to school for kicking out time.  Arrived in usual-to-excessive bedraggled state to a dry, sunny playground in an apparently storm-free Market Harborough.  Most bizarre.


Oh, the class?  Yes, fine thanks.  One of those that I didn't love, but, on reflection, I kind of did love.  You know?  In my effort to practise in every single spot in the room, I stood at the back on the right, and the unexpectedly great thing about that was that I was behind Kathryn.  In previous classes, I had noticed that Kathryn does something elaborate preparation-wise before Eagle.  I'm about 70% sure she won't mind me sharing this with you, although I'm not sure any description could really do it justice.  I'll try.  It involves what I must describe as a windmill motion of both arms in opposite directions speeding up and gathering momentum before finally and unexpectedly swinging the other way at the last moment to connect and twist like ropes.  It really is extremely complicated and confusingly impressive.  As I was fully focussed on my own practice at this (and every other) point of the class, I just had my brain record it and watched it later.


Night! x