The lazy hazy days of summer. When we were kids mum used to drag the mattresses outside to the front porch. From about the May long weekend to the September long weekend our bed sheets smelt like the fresh outdoors.
No need for an alarm it was the sunshine and the birds that got us cranked up. Carefree days and long lost nights. Did we really need to sleep? Not much.
Summer says vacation. Warm days. Warm nights. Shorts and sandals. Hats and sunscreen. Barbecues and beach volleyball.
On Vancouver Island it’s our chance to shine. I was handed a fresh off the press brochure today. The 2010 Local Food Guide www.getfreshguide.com with a headline: Get fresh with the locals.
I thought back to the summer I spent at the horse farm cultivating my keep by slogging the manure and earning extra cash on the side picking strawberries. That was hard work. All day, hands and knees. One in the mouth, three in the tray. There is something really rich about eating food fresh from the ground. The smell - the taste. The newness and crispness to be savoured. I often wonder what it would be like to only be able to buy local food. Would we have enough? Could we surive without a lemon? Or could we somehow grow all that we need?
I heard the Organic Islands Festival http://www.organicislands.ca/ is on this weekend. Now if only I had the lazy part of summer to dawdle through and didn’t have to work… summer food for thoughts.
Showing posts with label summer cold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer cold. Show all posts
Friday, 9 July 2010
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Health is Wealth
Last night I went to bed for a nap. Thought I’d wake up within 15 minutes so I could write my blog. Clearly I was sick. I didn’t wake up until a phone call at 6:20 a.m. this morning. Bummer.
Made me think about things though. Here I was rushing around to do the BC Bike Race www.bcbikerace.com where I maxed myself riding a mountain bike on the sweetest single track British Columbia has to offer. I don’t sleep much the final encore as I’m so wound I DID IT! All seven days of the Challenge Course. Then what do I do, I go straight home and back to work in the boatyard in 30 degree Celsius heat with not much sleep and thighs I know exist. So what happens… I get the summer cold. Haven’t had anything like that for I swear two years.
My famous anecdote rings in my head, time to slow down sit down and shut down. So I do, but then I don’t get up for ten hours.
Back to the headline. Health is wealth. No matter what we do in life, health is gold. Really, it’s our bread and butter. If we didn’t have it, there would be nothing.
My dad was 44 years old when he had his first stroke. I was nine years old and remember it like it was yesterday. One day he was dad, next day he was someone in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head and drool coming out the side of his mouth.
He survived paralyzed on his left side and lived a love filled life until his later seventies. But one thing always stuck with me. No matter how much money we had, it would never bring the feeling back in his left side. Or, get him out of that wheelchair in the latter years.
When I think about what I’m doing to survive because of financial pressures and the almighty buck, I need to remind myself about my dad. Like he used to say, your health is your wealth and without it you have nothing.
Time to rest up. Thanks, dad.
Made me think about things though. Here I was rushing around to do the BC Bike Race www.bcbikerace.com where I maxed myself riding a mountain bike on the sweetest single track British Columbia has to offer. I don’t sleep much the final encore as I’m so wound I DID IT! All seven days of the Challenge Course. Then what do I do, I go straight home and back to work in the boatyard in 30 degree Celsius heat with not much sleep and thighs I know exist. So what happens… I get the summer cold. Haven’t had anything like that for I swear two years.
My famous anecdote rings in my head, time to slow down sit down and shut down. So I do, but then I don’t get up for ten hours.
Back to the headline. Health is wealth. No matter what we do in life, health is gold. Really, it’s our bread and butter. If we didn’t have it, there would be nothing.
My dad was 44 years old when he had his first stroke. I was nine years old and remember it like it was yesterday. One day he was dad, next day he was someone in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head and drool coming out the side of his mouth.
He survived paralyzed on his left side and lived a love filled life until his later seventies. But one thing always stuck with me. No matter how much money we had, it would never bring the feeling back in his left side. Or, get him out of that wheelchair in the latter years.
When I think about what I’m doing to survive because of financial pressures and the almighty buck, I need to remind myself about my dad. Like he used to say, your health is your wealth and without it you have nothing.
Time to rest up. Thanks, dad.
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