​Season of lists and mellow thoughts

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.

1. The book I’m reading is one out of a “book bundle” I borrowed from the library just before it had to close. I love the book bundle. Three or four books are bundled together with rubber bands, and you can nip into the library, select a bundle and you’re off. I do no better or worse than browsing shelves for half an hour to select them myself.
2. I hope I’m never forced to read eBooks on a device. Books are easy on the eye, and feel nice in the hand. Interestingly, you’d think small paperbacks would be more practical and lighter for bedtime reading, which is the only reading I do, but larger books are better, and hardbacks best of all. You can half recline with your knees up, prop the book against your legs and support it with one hand while sipping your bedtime herbal tea with the other. Small paperbacks require more effort: they want to stay closed as if they resent the intrusion.
3. But an eBook on a device? I’d rather stick needles in my eyes.
4. In contrast to real books, for recipes I’ve switched to online searches. It’s a magic pudding of options out there. You can type in any ingredient and an endlessly regenerating supply of ideas pops up.
5. When searching recipes online it’s best to include the word “Australia” in the search line, otherwise you get recipes with obscure ingredients like broccoli raab, or jerk seasoning. (Seasoning for, or invented by, foolish irritating people?)
6. Apart from grating it into savoury loaves and slices to provide moisture, zucchini is best sliced longways and roasted with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and herbs.
7. Any vegetable is best with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
8. Peanut butter with only peanuts in it is by far the best kind.
9. I love running. What I do is probably just jogging to proper runners, but it’s good enough for me. It’s all about the rhythm of everything working together: the legs, the arms, the breathing, the gentle pull through your midsection as the limbs swing opposite each other. Plus the fresh air, and noticing what other people do with their gardens.
10. I prefer to run on the road instead of the concrete footpath. It sounds silly, but the road tarmac feels less jarring. My theory is that the road surface is not entirely smooth: the tiny gaps between the gravelly bits allow the sole of your shoe to sink into them just enough to add a cushioning effect.
11. Walking feels really good too, regardless of surface.
12. Cycling is also good, but when the roads are wet your brakes can’t grip the wheels properly so it becomes a bit dangerous. But riding your bike for local access, to the shops for example, or the library, is very good for the environment, and gives you exercise as well. I have to thank The Current Situation for causing me to return to the habit.
13. The health app on my phone is great, but it’s very stingy allocating burnt calories to certain exercises. I get lots for jogging but only eight calories for doing over a minute of burpees, same for push ups. You try doing burpees or push ups for a whole minute and tell me it’s not burning calories.
14. Calories are interesting: I’ve found out there’s more in the piece of bread than the generous spread of butter you put on it. I reduced the bread but kept up the butter. Result? Looser waistbands. Interesting.
15. Real butter with only cream and salt in it is by far the best basic spread.
16. We have a lot of cobwebs in our house. Not because we are too lazy to sweep them away, but because we are reluctant to disrupt spider habitat. It seems contradictory to us to create habitat for birds, skinks and frogs outside, while destroying it for invertebrates inside.
17. We wish more people understood the concept of creating, or at the very least not destroying, habitat for creatures other than humans. Other creatures are important. And delightful, even if sometimes a bit scary, like snakes and huntsman spiders.
18. I wish more people would ring me to discuss arrangements, rather than holding conversations by text. I’m too old to type texts with that agile double-thumb method anyone under 35 seems adept at: I’ve wasted hours some days, responding to texts.
19. Overall, modern communication technology, including social media, is brilliant. Go ahead, shoot me down. But The Current Situation has shown how effective it can be in so many ways. My gyms are posting video workouts on Facebook or YouTube so our members can keep moving, and they tell us they are very grateful. Our Toastmasters club held a regular meeting via Zoom last week and it was terrific.
20. Toastmasters is brilliant too. Sometimes I really don’t feel like going, but I’m always glad I did. It’s like the book bundle: you get exposed to people and concepts you might not otherwise meet. It’s great exercise for the mind.
21. This apparently random set of points required the same amount of input as any of my usual narratives. And was just as rewarding. Best wishes to you and yours.

Twenty-One Assorted Comments by Miriam Strickland