Day Seventeen (Saturday 11th April) - Warmth, Heart and a Wine Bottle
What a pearler of a Saturday today.
I set off on my beach walk around 1pm and went all the way to the southern end. I've usually kept my walks reasonably short, but this one was a lovely "walk & talk" with a friend who I haven't connected with since lockdown, and I soon found myself at the very far end of the beach.
A nice chance to say "hi" to Mum and Dad as that's where their ashes are sprinkled, so I reflected for a little while on past, present and future.
On my return, I thought I'd test the water temperature. While the day was perfect and the air was warm, I was convinced the water would be anything but. With some trepidation I put my toes in. To my surprise, it was possibly the warmest water I've encountered all year.
I walked in deeper, skirt hoisted. Was this the Med? Felt like it.
I'm not a swimmer, as anyone who knows me knows (the first announce water as absolutely freezing even though it may possibly only be slightly cool!. Having said that, I've had more swims this summer than ever.
Sally - swimming - April - NO WAY! But if I could have plunged in right there and then today, I would have. That's how warm!
Given clothing and Covid rules, no-go.
En route back I spotted a tottering dotteril (they really do totter - see short video!) You don't often see them on the main beach, they generally nest at the sanctuary on the spit, but this one was busy getting himself a feed. At low tide like this, they really are camouflaged amongst the shells.
Racing:
Big day of racing in Sydney today - also some good racing in Caulfield, and Doomben, and Morphetville - and all over Australia. Kept me occupied during the afternoon while I got busy in the kitchen preparing a "from scratch" dinner including making home-made sweet and sour sauce (very simple and yummy). Australia has done well to continue racing at all their courses, and there's no word about it ceasing. Yet.
Using my new Doodly software, I've begun to create a Racing Musings series - "The Ups and Downs of the Racehorse Owner". This is Edition 1. Even if you're not an owner/not into racing, you'll get it!
Dinner:
I thoroughly enjoyed pottering around in the nice new Omaha kitchen during late afternoon. I stayed mostly away from the computer; no writing, no work, no distractions. Just me in the kitchen with Trackside. Saturday afternoon heaven!
I love cooking, and dinner tonight was Sweet & Sour pork with flat bread (I have flour!)
Had to go to the Superette to get a few things (timed between the big late-afternoon races!)
Usually walk there but needed red wine. Didn't want burden of carrying bottles home (or neighbours/locals seeing me stocking up with more!!!) so drove to shop (2 mins).
BTW, anyone else doing "2 weeks to the gallon" these days?!
Bit of a queue. Stood patiently in line. Lots of friendly chitchat.
Got all I needed, including wine, although choice somewhat limited in the red section.
Vege department fully stocked with quality produce.
No one else seemed to be buying wine ...!
Time to roll out the flatbread dough, which I'd duly kneaded and rested.
Uh-oh - there's no rolling pin up here. I searched all the drawers in hope. Nothing.
Hmm, what to do? Think, think, think ... what else could work ...?
Oh, of course ... that empty red wine bottle will do the trick perfectly!
Bloody good job I like wine, disaster averted!
Dinner was very tasty. The sweet and sour sauce glossy and piquant, the sugar snaps (from the Superette) were fresh and crunchy, and we even had dessert - brandy snaps (from Superette) and cream - whipped old-fashioned style with a hand beater. Laborious but worth it!
Damn, forgot to sprinkle the sesame seeds over the pork, I'd bought them specially from the Superette!
Movie:
Watched after-dinner movie - Ladybird. Stars Saoirse Ronan. Not a lot happens in the movie but it's a nice commentary on parent/teenage relationships. Michael recognised Saoirse from "The Lovely Bones" - dreadful movie, the book is better. But she was great in it. Like her a lot. Haven't seen Little Woman yet ...
The theme made me reflect back some 15 years to when I was flying home with a young male colleague after we'd run a workshop overseas. I was early-40s, he was late 20s. We're chatting away on the plane and I had an urge to ask him about his relationship with his mum through the years. The boys were aged 12 and 9 at the time and was interested in how boys viewed their mum as they grew older. (I'm from an all-girl family).
It's probably not the sort of question you'd ask just anyone just (click fingers) like that. But I'd worked with this young guy for a number of years and admired him as an insightful, open and authentic young man. Our work in those days took us daily to challenging places that many people won't venture to in a lifetime (and I'm not talking locations) and I knew he'd give me an honest perspective. (We worked in organisational culture, personal development, coaching etc - our work required resilience and vulnerability in spades. Zany days, for sure.)
Still, this was a question that had a measure of confronting-ness (is that a word?) about it. But the moment was right. And there was nowhere he could go - we were sitting in a plane!
In short, his response was that it was okay, but not perfect. Hell, I would have fallen off my seat (and looked a right dick) if it had been. Perfect could never be the right answer! Anyway, we talked about parent-child relationships the whole flight; his, mine, others.
I talked from the "mother" perspective and he talked from the "son" perspective. It was great and I'll always remember that conversation; it gifted me an insight into the dynamics of young men and their mums, and I hoped it gifted him some new perspectives too.
But what happened next was utterly shocking.
Just a couple of days later, his mother died suddenly, at work, from a brain haemorrhage. She was mid-50s or so.
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Heart Health ...
In an earlier post I talked of Bone Health.
But now I'll share a personal story about the heart. If it can help someone avert heart catastrophe and avoid estrangement, then it is worth sharing ...
When my Dad died suddenly of a heart attack, aged 56, it had been several weeks since we'd spoken. It was a strange and unsettling estrangement and I was 6 months pregnant at the time. How on earth did this come about, you're asking ...
It's complex ...
In short, I'd been worried about his diet, for some time. He was fit, not overweight, and generally very healthy - but he loved fried and processed foods. I hadn't long returned from a decade living in London. I've never been a health and fitness freak but kept making subtle suggestions that it would be a good thing if he ate a bit more healthily. I suggested to Mum that she stop cooking chips and deep-fried stuff. But Dad liked what he liked. And Mum cooked it for him. Sigh. (Early 90s)
A friend at the time (young woman in her 30s) went to an iridologist who had indicated that she had some heart problems. She had no symptoms or anything and was gobsmacked (as was I), but she went to a cardiac specialist to get checked. Indeed, she did have a some underlying heart issues, which could be easily treated at that stage.
What did the iridologist see? White bands around the outside of her iris which can indicate calcium build up in the arteries.
As soon as she said this to me, I knew that's what I saw in my Dad's eyes - thick white bands around the iris. I've always been a believer in alternative therapies alongside mainstream medicine ... but Dad was a GP! How the hell to suggest to him he may have heart issues, letalone introduce iridology as an indicator?
Suffice to say, the conversation didn't get very far ... and it turned out to be the last one I had with him. There are more layers to the whole thing, but that's the crux of things.
That same day, Mum and I went to get some baby stuff (remember, I was pregnant, this was first grandchild). I was driving, we stopped at the traffic lights. I turned to Mum with an urgency I've never known in my life, and said "Dad is going to die of a heart attack. Someone needs to do something. He won't listen to me, but maybe he'll listen to you. If not, Mum, he will die. Please do something. Stop cooking him chips." We drove on and bought some baby stuff.
Less than a month later, Dad died suddenly of a heart attack. Aged 56. Here at Omaha. After moving something heavy. The ambulance took an age. There was no defib. Wrong time, wrong place. Had he been in Auckland ...
It was a tragedy. It was atherosclerosis.
There was no point in "I told you so", it wouldn't bring him back. There were only tears and despair. That traffic light conversation haunted for a very long time.
I'd tried to warn but my words fell on deaf ears.
Don't have deaf ears, even if you think you're hearing nonsense! Listen. Hear. Check it out.
It might be nothing, or it might be life-saving.
Genetics played a part. Dad's mother died in her sleep of a heart attack, in her 60s. Sons of mothers who die of a heart attack are potentially most at risk. Dad, as a doctor, would of course have known this. But who wants to know this!?
With such family history, being of a certain age, and also having a high cholesterol reading, I had my own heart health fully checked a couple of years ago. I'm no fitness fanatic but my lifestyle is pretty balanced. Still, I was worried.
Thankfully all the standard tests were fine, and statins prescribed for the cholesterol (under control).
But despite those tests not showing anything alarming, due to Dad's early death, a Calcium Score test was also recommended as an extra measure. It's a CT scan that can read how much calcium build-up is within your arteries and can determine if there's something to be monitored, treated etc. Waiting for those results was very nerve-wracking.
But when they came through, it was very good news. My Calcium Score was - ZERO. NIL. No calcium to be seen. The relief was immense. To be checked again in the future, for sure, but, for now, my heart health is okay. I'm a year older than Dad was when he died. I appreciate every day.
Take care of your heart health. Don't hope for the best, get checked if you have family history, any symptoms, or white bands around your irises.
And maybe, if you've got deaf ears, get your hearing checked too!!!'
Talking of hearts - here's Warren Zevon with "Searching for A Heart" - a little known song of his, but if you listen carefully, you'll hear how apt some of these lyrics are for Covid days!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEjvVpV1srY
I set off on my beach walk around 1pm and went all the way to the southern end. I've usually kept my walks reasonably short, but this one was a lovely "walk & talk" with a friend who I haven't connected with since lockdown, and I soon found myself at the very far end of the beach.
A nice chance to say "hi" to Mum and Dad as that's where their ashes are sprinkled, so I reflected for a little while on past, present and future.
On my return, I thought I'd test the water temperature. While the day was perfect and the air was warm, I was convinced the water would be anything but. With some trepidation I put my toes in. To my surprise, it was possibly the warmest water I've encountered all year.
I walked in deeper, skirt hoisted. Was this the Med? Felt like it.
I'm not a swimmer, as anyone who knows me knows (the first announce water as absolutely freezing even though it may possibly only be slightly cool!. Having said that, I've had more swims this summer than ever.
Sally - swimming - April - NO WAY! But if I could have plunged in right there and then today, I would have. That's how warm!
Given clothing and Covid rules, no-go.
 |
| Omaha Beach photo of the day - southern end |
En route back I spotted a tottering dotteril (they really do totter - see short video!) You don't often see them on the main beach, they generally nest at the sanctuary on the spit, but this one was busy getting himself a feed. At low tide like this, they really are camouflaged amongst the shells.
Racing:
Big day of racing in Sydney today - also some good racing in Caulfield, and Doomben, and Morphetville - and all over Australia. Kept me occupied during the afternoon while I got busy in the kitchen preparing a "from scratch" dinner including making home-made sweet and sour sauce (very simple and yummy). Australia has done well to continue racing at all their courses, and there's no word about it ceasing. Yet.
Using my new Doodly software, I've begun to create a Racing Musings series - "The Ups and Downs of the Racehorse Owner". This is Edition 1. Even if you're not an owner/not into racing, you'll get it!
Dinner:
I thoroughly enjoyed pottering around in the nice new Omaha kitchen during late afternoon. I stayed mostly away from the computer; no writing, no work, no distractions. Just me in the kitchen with Trackside. Saturday afternoon heaven!
I love cooking, and dinner tonight was Sweet & Sour pork with flat bread (I have flour!)
Had to go to the Superette to get a few things (timed between the big late-afternoon races!)
Usually walk there but needed red wine. Didn't want burden of carrying bottles home (or neighbours/locals seeing me stocking up with more!!!) so drove to shop (2 mins).
BTW, anyone else doing "2 weeks to the gallon" these days?!
Bit of a queue. Stood patiently in line. Lots of friendly chitchat.
Got all I needed, including wine, although choice somewhat limited in the red section.
Vege department fully stocked with quality produce.
No one else seemed to be buying wine ...!
Time to roll out the flatbread dough, which I'd duly kneaded and rested.
Uh-oh - there's no rolling pin up here. I searched all the drawers in hope. Nothing.
Hmm, what to do? Think, think, think ... what else could work ...?
Oh, of course ... that empty red wine bottle will do the trick perfectly!
Bloody good job I like wine, disaster averted!
Dinner was very tasty. The sweet and sour sauce glossy and piquant, the sugar snaps (from the Superette) were fresh and crunchy, and we even had dessert - brandy snaps (from Superette) and cream - whipped old-fashioned style with a hand beater. Laborious but worth it!
Damn, forgot to sprinkle the sesame seeds over the pork, I'd bought them specially from the Superette!
Movie:
Watched after-dinner movie - Ladybird. Stars Saoirse Ronan. Not a lot happens in the movie but it's a nice commentary on parent/teenage relationships. Michael recognised Saoirse from "The Lovely Bones" - dreadful movie, the book is better. But she was great in it. Like her a lot. Haven't seen Little Woman yet ...
The theme made me reflect back some 15 years to when I was flying home with a young male colleague after we'd run a workshop overseas. I was early-40s, he was late 20s. We're chatting away on the plane and I had an urge to ask him about his relationship with his mum through the years. The boys were aged 12 and 9 at the time and was interested in how boys viewed their mum as they grew older. (I'm from an all-girl family).
It's probably not the sort of question you'd ask just anyone just (click fingers) like that. But I'd worked with this young guy for a number of years and admired him as an insightful, open and authentic young man. Our work in those days took us daily to challenging places that many people won't venture to in a lifetime (and I'm not talking locations) and I knew he'd give me an honest perspective. (We worked in organisational culture, personal development, coaching etc - our work required resilience and vulnerability in spades. Zany days, for sure.)
Still, this was a question that had a measure of confronting-ness (is that a word?) about it. But the moment was right. And there was nowhere he could go - we were sitting in a plane!
In short, his response was that it was okay, but not perfect. Hell, I would have fallen off my seat (and looked a right dick) if it had been. Perfect could never be the right answer! Anyway, we talked about parent-child relationships the whole flight; his, mine, others.
I talked from the "mother" perspective and he talked from the "son" perspective. It was great and I'll always remember that conversation; it gifted me an insight into the dynamics of young men and their mums, and I hoped it gifted him some new perspectives too.
But what happened next was utterly shocking.
Just a couple of days later, his mother died suddenly, at work, from a brain haemorrhage. She was mid-50s or so.
SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Heart Health ...
In an earlier post I talked of Bone Health.
But now I'll share a personal story about the heart. If it can help someone avert heart catastrophe and avoid estrangement, then it is worth sharing ...
When my Dad died suddenly of a heart attack, aged 56, it had been several weeks since we'd spoken. It was a strange and unsettling estrangement and I was 6 months pregnant at the time. How on earth did this come about, you're asking ...
It's complex ...
In short, I'd been worried about his diet, for some time. He was fit, not overweight, and generally very healthy - but he loved fried and processed foods. I hadn't long returned from a decade living in London. I've never been a health and fitness freak but kept making subtle suggestions that it would be a good thing if he ate a bit more healthily. I suggested to Mum that she stop cooking chips and deep-fried stuff. But Dad liked what he liked. And Mum cooked it for him. Sigh. (Early 90s)
A friend at the time (young woman in her 30s) went to an iridologist who had indicated that she had some heart problems. She had no symptoms or anything and was gobsmacked (as was I), but she went to a cardiac specialist to get checked. Indeed, she did have a some underlying heart issues, which could be easily treated at that stage.
What did the iridologist see? White bands around the outside of her iris which can indicate calcium build up in the arteries.
As soon as she said this to me, I knew that's what I saw in my Dad's eyes - thick white bands around the iris. I've always been a believer in alternative therapies alongside mainstream medicine ... but Dad was a GP! How the hell to suggest to him he may have heart issues, letalone introduce iridology as an indicator?
Suffice to say, the conversation didn't get very far ... and it turned out to be the last one I had with him. There are more layers to the whole thing, but that's the crux of things.
That same day, Mum and I went to get some baby stuff (remember, I was pregnant, this was first grandchild). I was driving, we stopped at the traffic lights. I turned to Mum with an urgency I've never known in my life, and said "Dad is going to die of a heart attack. Someone needs to do something. He won't listen to me, but maybe he'll listen to you. If not, Mum, he will die. Please do something. Stop cooking him chips." We drove on and bought some baby stuff.
Less than a month later, Dad died suddenly of a heart attack. Aged 56. Here at Omaha. After moving something heavy. The ambulance took an age. There was no defib. Wrong time, wrong place. Had he been in Auckland ...
It was a tragedy. It was atherosclerosis.
There was no point in "I told you so", it wouldn't bring him back. There were only tears and despair. That traffic light conversation haunted for a very long time.
I'd tried to warn but my words fell on deaf ears.
Don't have deaf ears, even if you think you're hearing nonsense! Listen. Hear. Check it out.
It might be nothing, or it might be life-saving.
Genetics played a part. Dad's mother died in her sleep of a heart attack, in her 60s. Sons of mothers who die of a heart attack are potentially most at risk. Dad, as a doctor, would of course have known this. But who wants to know this!?
With such family history, being of a certain age, and also having a high cholesterol reading, I had my own heart health fully checked a couple of years ago. I'm no fitness fanatic but my lifestyle is pretty balanced. Still, I was worried.
Thankfully all the standard tests were fine, and statins prescribed for the cholesterol (under control).
But despite those tests not showing anything alarming, due to Dad's early death, a Calcium Score test was also recommended as an extra measure. It's a CT scan that can read how much calcium build-up is within your arteries and can determine if there's something to be monitored, treated etc. Waiting for those results was very nerve-wracking.
But when they came through, it was very good news. My Calcium Score was - ZERO. NIL. No calcium to be seen. The relief was immense. To be checked again in the future, for sure, but, for now, my heart health is okay. I'm a year older than Dad was when he died. I appreciate every day.
Take care of your heart health. Don't hope for the best, get checked if you have family history, any symptoms, or white bands around your irises.
And maybe, if you've got deaf ears, get your hearing checked too!!!'
Talking of hearts - here's Warren Zevon with "Searching for A Heart" - a little known song of his, but if you listen carefully, you'll hear how apt some of these lyrics are for Covid days!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEjvVpV1srY
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