A Reflection at Christmas

On Christmas Eve I'm grateful that this is the first working day day (Mon- Fri) in many months that I have no obligation to pick produce for customers. It's a lovely feeling.

Anticipating an email response I checked my hotmail inbox just now. I don't normally look at the junk items folder but I noticed there were 1138 items there so I opened it. It told me that items are automatically deleted after 10 days so that means I had received an average of over 110 junk emails per day since 14 Dec. A quick scan of these items showed a wide range subjects including how to get strong erections, invitations from mediums telling me how wonderful I am and to click here to find out my future, weight loss schemes, all manner of prizes I had "won", invitation to meet hot Asian girls, how to recognize and what to do if I had a heart attack, life insurance sales...on and on... I would need a week to list them properly. I conclude these emails are attempts to coerce money out of me. I'm grateful the filter system sends them to junk without me having to see them.

It has been a busy 6 weeks in the lead up to Christmas. When last week started I was so glad it was nearly over and we'd get a bit of a break soon. We'd been fortunate that for the most part the weather over weeks of picking beech foliage (and the spring blossom prior) had been cool and mild with plenty of rain in our part of the world. Just the odd hot day or two, manageable. Then last week there were two hot days forecast and by Wednesday I was tired but pleased that I'd worked through the heat and picked high volume to keep the greedy customers happy. Friday was forecast 44C so I put in a big effort Thursday to do most of Friday's picking. Our main wholesaler had given me a big order for Friday pick up - herbs not beech - which I also did as well as the weekly order of foliage that another customer picks up on the weekend. I was relieved the main guy didn't order beech for Friday and assumed his shed had plenty in it and he'd want none left over next week.

Lib and the boys left for Lakes Entrance Thursday morning. Lib had a week off following the procedure to remove a cataract on the Monday at Neerim South. So come Friday morning I woke confident the day would hold no problem for me other than a comfortable amount of picking to finish the order for the weekend lady. I got up on the roof early to cover the skylight with a tarp to keep the house cooler and cleared the downpipes of leaves while up there as a possible thunderstorm was forecast with the change to come that night. I came back inside for breakfast and the phone rang - Meredith, to tell me the wholesaler had rang and wanted 30 bunches of copper beech for that afternoon. With no hesitation I said "NO, I'm not doing it at this short notice, not in that heat forecast." So I jibbed it, but justifiably at my age given the extreme heat and strenuous work required working off a ladder or climbing the tree.

Melbourne's temp that day was 43.5C. The thermometer at home recorded 40C max. Horsham and Hamilton in the state's west had 48C. I came home to a hot little house after doing some watering, digging up the garlic in the vegie garden at the farm, and going to Monbulk to shop at Aldi. I opened all the doors and windows to get a little air movement, removed my sweaty clothes and poured a sherry to follow the light beer I'd had on the way home. All good, time for some peace and quiet in relaxed solitude.

I didn't turn the aircon on. There by myself I saw no need. I don't really like it anyway. I thought of my childhood. No aircon. I thought of my five years in Wangaratta, a hot place in summer, in various rental situations. No aircon. Camped in a caravan through summer in the Mallee with a beekeeper I worked with, summer 74/75. No aircon. A wet towel over the head and another on the feet. How things have changed. Aircon is a recent innovation. Now just about every building in Melbourne has aircon belting away as soon as the temperature rises into thirties. No wonder there's a shortage of energy.

Our microwave oven packed it in a few weeks ago. Lib and Gord were discussing the purchase of a new one. I thought about it and spoke up.

"I don't want another one. I use it only to heat up my pre brewed herb tea every morning, I can just as easily do that in a saucepan on the gas, almost as quickly. And anything else I want heated, say left over pizza occasionally, I can do in a  small frypan with a lid, on low. And Gord you can heat your oats the same way and your packet meals. Let's save the money and not buy another microwave."

This suggestion was greeted with disapproval, but two days later Lib said, "I agree with you about the microwave. Not having one will also free up bench space."

So much of what we spend on is unnecessary. And it starts with crap like Christmas. We've had Black Friday sales and early Boxing Day sales and constant infuriating advertising to make us buy things we don't need. It's the consumerist economy. Constant indulgence, entertainment. Buy Buy Buy!

CRAP CRAP CRAP!