Nearly December

 Christmas Eve is 4 four weeks away. Christmas Day will be a Monday event. The question for me is where I'll be. My preference is that I'll be right here, like most days frying up my eggs for breakfast. I have fried onions with them, a couple of cherry tomatoes, sometimes mushrooms, corn cut from the cob topped with fresh basil.

 

I used to have muesli and fruit for breakfast. If Lib wants that I do a bowl for myself while doing hers, but I put it in the fridge and don't eat it till lunchtime or afternoon tea. Sometimes Lib selects to go with eggs like me. Sometimes an omelet. Occasionally an Aldi Kransky sausage with the eggs, in which case Lib just has a little bit of the sausage. Or occasionally a bit of bacon. Now and again she just wants a bit of toast, but I still cook up for myself.

There's a reason for me writing about this. I can imagine some people who may read this thinking, as I've heard them saying about blogging, "Who wants to read about what someone has for breakfast?" I suppose they would rather read about my opinion on world affairs or politics or some family or neighbourhood gossip, something they are more readily entertained with. Fair enough, each to his own.

We are trained to be triggered, by any means possible to get our attention. The fascination with celebrity is a case in point. The headlines in newspapers, the grabs for future TV programs. The louder volume of TV ads, the crazy high-pitched voiceovers, the mad vision in the ads for banks and insurance companies with birds flying off with houses down the street. There are triggers everywhere all day to gain our attention, the aim to gain a response from us, usually the bottom line being to get us to spend money or act/behave/vote in a certain way or accept a situation or philosophy. Fearmongering is a big tool for triggering.

We are conned and manipulated. Watch out for the triggers. They come at you all day. I like to think and write about simplicity. It relieves me from the nutty world. Christmas is part of the nuttiness. It's a huge trigger. Gord has been in my ear about it for weeks, working on me to make a trip with he and Lib to Victoria to have Christmas with Lib's sister Margaret, once we know of arrangements at that end. I've told Gord to talk about it with Lib and once arrangements are made that will suit everyone else, I'll then decide if I want to participate. I stated clearly that my preference is to stay home and look after our plants in pots and the vegie garden and our little old dog who is too old to be left in the care of somebody else. She would have to come with us if I went also. Lib hasn't discussed it with me, but Gord has told me that she has had some communication with sister Margaret, and that maybe Christmas will be at Lakes Entrance (Marg owns the Lakes house that the trio did after Moll and Bill transferred it to them, way back in the 90's. Marg bought out Lib's and Pat's share a couple of years before we moved to SA. Lib's share went into our retirement transition acc) or maybe at one of Marg's girls. Lib's other sister Pat usually has Christmas with husband Michael's family, but if we did go over, we would surely be visiting before or after at Portarlington.

So, watch this space. I'll do my best to fit in but if it all seems too hard for poor old Carey I'll refuse to go. If I did go, I have no desire to visit my family or the farm. Funny that, but the effort to leave after so many years of struggling with so many things has left me with no desire to spark emotions. If I went to Victoria I would like to visit a few dear friends, but I don't think I'd have the autonomy to do that, having one vehicle only and the focus of the trip being Lib's family.

My simple life revolves around my joyful breakfasts, the herbs and vegies in the backyard, working on weeds down the river and nurturing plantings there. A hot bath in the evening, reading a good book, a bit of telly. All the while trying to recognize triggers and avoid responding in the manner intended for me by the trigger.

I used to have my fruit and muesli for breakfast every day. Then my egg lady Sarah at the Saturday morning market, a trained naturopath, suggested I have protein for my first meal of the day. She asked what was in the muesli. I said, "Oats, fruit, lots of good gear" 

Oats are full of starch. Better you have protein, like eggs and meat.

You mean like bacon? I thought it was a Nono. Nitrates and such.

A little won't hurt. We've been eating preserved meat for centuries. Too much is bad. Have your muesli later. If you have protein early, you'll find you eat less and feel better.

I liked what I was hearing, and that's what I do now. In any case, I'm glad I don't live in Gaza, or the Ukraine. I'm able to decide what I have for breakfast and whether I go somewhere for Christmas.

By the way my egg lady is amazing. She told me on Saturday she has a degree in construction (when we were discussing my new boots, she asked if they were steel caps). She met her second husband at a university orientation day, she had 4 kids in tow, and he thought she was their young, employed nanny. Her older kids from first husband start in the 20's in age, and she has 2 boys under 10 with her current hubby. 6 kids total, two of whom have left the nest. She and hubby run their chicken farm in the Inman valley, and she comes to markets Saturdays in VH and Sundays in Goolwa to sell the eggs.