 The author's mother received her BA from La Trobe University aged 70. | By Miriam Strickland IF OUR mum were still alive we’d be celebrating her 100th birthday this month. As it is, she made it to 76, which isn’t bad. We were all expecting a stroke or heart attack to take her off, but it turned out to be motor neuron disease, for heaven’s sake. And we had no idea until a month before she died. She had the bulbar palsy type of MND, not the type that takes away your arms and legs. The form mum had first manifested as changes in her speech. She commented one day that she was finding it hard to pronounce the letter L. Then we noticed her voice had dropped in pitch and sounded hoarse. With diagnosed angina and a long history of high blood pressure everyone, her doctor included, assumed she had had a slight stroke, enough to affect her speech but not enough to cause any visible paralysis or cognitive change. |
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 By Miriam Strickland
I’M growing a beard. Not that many people would notice, it’s only two single hairs under the tip of my chin at this stage. But I’m encouraging them and so far they look strong. I’ll admit there was a time I plucked them when I noticed them, but now I’ve decided I’ll keep them in the hope that more are inspired to sprout. They look like they’re working towards a modest goatee. I’ve found myself sometimes gently grasping them to extend them to their full length, in the manner of the stereotypical Oriental sage while he carefully considers some important affair of state. I’m only thinking about what to prepare for dinner, or whether to plant broccoli seedlings among the emerging broad beans, but stroking my beard makes me feel very wise nonetheless. By Miriam Strickland
I’M NOT going to write about The Current Situation. ‘Nuff said, surely. Instead, a collection of comments, inspired by a book I’m reading at the moment. Twenty-One Truths About Love, by Matthew Green. It’s a clever novel, composed entirely of lists. The main character explains that his psychotherapist advised him to start journaling: making lists is his compromise. It’s surprisingly affecting. The following isn’t quite the same, but let’s try it. By Miriam Strickland
PAULINE and I have been a couple for twenty years. As I write that I feel the need to add an emoji, the one with eyes wide, mouth agape and eyebrows raised to the hairline. No other partner ever managed to put up with me for anything like that long, so twenty years really is remarkable. So remarkable that I’m writing about it here in the Post. By Miriam Strickland
I’VE quit my day job. Actually it doesn’t make much sense to say that, given that my “other” job has become my day job now. But the day job I quit has been my principal place of employment for over 15 years, and you don’t just quit it without a bit of thought. Some people around my age have had the misfortune to be pushed out of their job, or to find themselves unable to keep doing it. Not in my case. I was still physically and mentally capable of keeping up with the work, and I enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere created by the new young owner of the business. There was no pressure to make way for younger staff, and no technological changes I couldn’t keep up with. Story by Miriam Strickland
Photos by Pauline Wilkinson WE HAVE been adopted by a family of magpies. An adult male started visiting in late winter two years ago, and occasionally we’d toss a bit of extra something his way; a few crumbs, a bit of cheese, a worm-sized bit of mince before it disappeared into the meatball mix. So of course he started appearing more often. By Miriam Strickland
EXCITING news! My New York cousin is coming to visit! Her mother and my mother were first cousins, growing up together in South Yarra during the Depression and WWII. How did my cousin come to be a New Yorker? Read on. By Miriam Strickland
RECENTLY someone asked me if I was a local, in a context that meant local to Wonthaggi as distinct from the Bass Coast region. In this situation the simple answer was yes, I do live in Wonthaggi. But as sometimes happens when someone asks you an innocent question, it got me thinking. I could have answered no, as I’m not third or fourth generation born and bred here. Or I could have said yes, I have lived here for over seventeen years, the longest I have lived anywhere, and feel that by now the place has interwoven with my DNA.  By Miriam Strickland
AT OUR final meeting for the year, South Coast Speakers Toastmasters club holds an informal dinner gathering which includes a Kris Kringle gift exchange. We keep the value low as it’s just a bit of fun at Christmas time. I have heard that in past years some of the “gifts” have not seemed very … gifty. Socks, for example. This year’s selection was pretty good. I recall handmade chocolate treats, a very popular spiced couscous product ready to make at home, and other simple but pleasant things. Perhaps the most unexpected was a set of puzzle books. Which came to me. By Miriam Strickland
JOHN Lennon wrote in one of his songs: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” Have you ever felt that way? Thinking you’ve got a nice routine worked out, busy, maybe, but your activities nicely dovetail and there’s some breathing space built in to make a cuppa and watch the grass grow. By Miriam Strickland
WHETHER by coincidence or design, my siblings and I were born about five years apart. Therefore, every so often we all reach ages with a five or a zero ending. This year is such a year, including one of us at 75 and two at 70. We thought we should mark the occasion.  Tunisian Breakfast Soup By Miriam Strickland
HOW are you going with your legumes? I hope my previous column encouraged some of you to try incorporating some wonderful “musical fruits” into your menus. This time let’s explore a bit further. By Miriam Strickland
DISCUSSING legumes often brings out the child in us. Many of us wouldn’t admit to finding fart jokes funny but the rhyme that goes: “Beans, beans, the musical fruit; the more you eat the more you toot” makes most people smile. By Miriam Strickland
LATELY I’ve found myself saying “bless you” a lot. To customers I serve in the shop, to participants in my classes, to friends and family on the phone. Or I might say it in relation to a third party; for example on hearing an anecdote about someone I don’t know, responding by saying “oh, that’s funny, bless him/her”. By Miriam Strickland
DR MICHAEL Mosley is becoming a bit annoying. Switch on to SBS and if it isn’t a program on ancient Egypt or Hitler it’ll be Dr Mosley. A slight exaggeration perhaps, but he’s been very busy. He’s presented a dozen TV series and written many books. We now have a blood sugar diet book, a fasting for health and longevity diet book, a weight loss diet book, exercise for managing all of the above, and now a gut health diet book. By Miriam Strickland
MY LATEST adventure has involved a considerable amount of discomfort. There I was, enjoying the challenge of teaching Body Balance classes and striding out for my brisk walk every morning before breakfast, as well as getting on with the usual tasks of life; going to work, sorting out the menu at home, yanking out the occasional garden weed, and so on. By Miriam Strickland
SOME time ago I was absent-mindedly scanning the Small Paper (they’re almost all small papers these days, but you know the one I mean) when a headline jumped out at me. “Is STRESS making you FAT?” Oh no, I groaned, another simplistic quick-fix diet article. But in the interests of research, I decided I should read on. By Miriam Strickland
Regular customers to my workplace can tell you that one of the most frequent stories I recite is the one about the hungry lion and the unhappy stomach. By Miriam Strickland
A FEW weekends ago I was slopping freshly made mango chutney into hot jars (I’m yet to find a tidy way to do it), and I remembered a similar moment at about the same time last year. By Miriam Strickland
EVERY so often I am prompted to think about life and death and what to make of everything in between. Often, and suitably, the prompt is my attendance at a funeral. I’ve attended quite a few funerals and I like them. By Miriam Strickland
IT’S great to be back in print. I wish I could say my absence was due to an extended holiday somewhere exotic. But although parts of the last few months have had an air of unreality about them, there was no reclining by a sparkling pool surrounded by palm trees, nor sipping on a brightly coloured drink topped with a little paper parasol. No, I’ve just been busy. By Miriam Strickland
DAYLIGHT saving time has finished for the year and now it seems that when the day crashes to a close I have barely registered the passing of the afternoon. A few nights have become quite chilly too; we’re already starting to draw the curtains at nightfall to retain the lovely warmth dispensed into our living room by the sun, which still has some kick during the day. I WAS delighted to receive an email recently from my cousin in New York. Her husband filmed with his smart phone as they watched on TV the final moments of the judging of best in show at the famous Westminster dog show at Madison Square Garden. First he focussed the camera on the screen, where the judge was about to deliver the verdict ... “My choice for best in show is … the beagle!” and immediately my cousin was in view jumping up and down and squealing with delight.
Last weekend I attended a workshop for committee members of Toastmasters clubs based around the south eastern suburbs and regions. I hoped that by attending the workshop I might pick up some ideas that would help our club to boost our finances and membership. As I’m currently serving in both roles of treasurer and membership vice-president, it seemed like a good idea.
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