Apologies to regular readers for the lack of posts on Alloporus in the past few weeks.

As confused Confucius might say “take on renovations only when you are prepared to put the rest of your life on hold”

Good news is that the painting is done, the cleaners are booked in and all that will be left is to wait three months before I get around to that second coat on the patch of cornice that I missed.

Hours with a roller trying to perform the miracle of turning a dark blue feature wall white, is contemplative stuff. It makes for a wandering of the mind into surprisingly reflective places.

I wait variously from the precarious nature of human existence, to the even more perilous prospect of achieving Pincha Mayurasana [Feathered Peacock Pose], pause briefly at the staggering amount of road construction in China, and then to blissful focus on even application of white on blue.

“It is what it is” became more meaningful than ever in those moments.

The recalcitrance of individuals and the crippling inertia of organizations faded away as they should. Not even the necessity of returning to the day job that is full of such frustration was a worry.

So if anyone needs help to return a feature wall to normality, you know who to call.