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Photo by Ryan James Bentley 2009
Sunday with no plans so I went for a walk. I knew there would be cyclists on the main road taking part in the annual Around The Bay In A Day event. I had gone for my ride yesterday avoiding the crowds. 15,500 cyclists wearing colourful lycra pedalled their bikes in both directions looping 250 kilometres around Port Phillip Bay.
At Anthony’s Nose three large men in bulging lycra asked in their English accents if I would take their photo. With the silvery bay clad in morning light as a backdrop and the tall buildings of Melbourne peeking above the horizon as small black pegs (their destination) I took the picture of these jovial men. They told me they were from Sydney and came down each year especially for this event. Finding time to stop at a cafe for breakfast was a priority they said. I wish I had my phone with me so I could have taken a photo of them for myself.
Later in the day I drove to Mornington to see and hear a friend sing as part of the Two Bays Choir. The Annual Mornington Food and Wine Expo was in full swing when I arrived. The main street was closed to vehicles and instead filled with tent stalls where local wineries offered samples of their wine, and all sorts of food was being made and sold. A rock band played loudly at one end of the street and another at the other end. It was difficult to find my way through the crowds of people, children, dogs, and stalls. The cafes, restaurants and hotels were open for business and diners were eating and drinking, spilling out onto the footpaths.
Eventually finding the stage where the choir performed I sat and enjoyed their efforts despite the competing sounds from the rock bands and crowds of exuberant people. As I was about to leave a group of 14 people gathered and sat in a circle with bongo drums. A joyous rhythm of drumming began and a crowd gathered to lap up their sound and spirit.
I drove home along the beach road as the sun made its way to the western horizon. Boats were still out on the golden bay and people were fishing, skiing, or just motoring around. A barbeque dinner at home with family finished off a great day. Springtime in Melbourne heralds the arrival of longer days of sunshine and everyone gets out enjoying themselves in this glorious weather.
Are you influenced by what you read? Does your mind absorb the ideas set down by others? Do you live inside the scenes created, even temporarily? I suppose that’s why reading fiction is a form of escapism.
As a Librarian it is no surprise that I value books and reading for self improvement. I value learning from the experiences, and thoughts that others have worked so hard to set down in words. The more you read the more you learn. Even if you don’t retain it all and reject some ideas, we grow and evolve by taking on a little bit from each book we read.
At the moment I am reading a novel titled “Deception” by Michael Meehan. It is about a young Australian man who traces his ancestry to France in order to unravel his family history. It is exquisitely told, set in the Australian desert, Paris and New Caledonia. He weaves his tale masterfully between the past and the present. I have engaged in tracing my family history in the past and yet for the first time it has occurred to me to trace the one French branch of my family tree. It would be so interesting to learn some more French history while unraveling my own family tree, also fulfilling my love of all things French.
Meanwhile someone close to me has discovered they have cancer. It is a shock. I remember reading a few years ago a book titled “Your Life In Your Hands” by Jane Plant. She is a UK scientist who had breast cancer, suffered through chemotherapy, a mastectomy, radiation treatment, and was eventually given 6 months to live. As a scientist she researched the situation thoroughly, eventually having a “light-bulb” moment thinking that in Asian cultures the incidence of breast and prostrate cancer is remarkably low and they don’t eat dairy products. Eliminating dairy products from her diet from that moment the tumors shrank and disappeared altogether. She wrote her book in 2000 and now in 2008 she is alive and cancer free. Her experience, research and discoveries provide hope and practical advice for others facing the cancer death sentence. I gave the book to that person to read and make up their own mind. After all what have they got to lose?
Not only are we what we read but we are what we eat!
What an inspiration the Olympic performances are for us all to get out there and move our sluggish bodies! How thrilling is it to watch those toned perfect human physiques pushing themselves to their limits?
It can and does inspire many of us to get on a bike, or run, or swim or whatever. But let’s face it, one or two sessions is not going to do it. It needs to be regular, repetitive, focused and ongoing for all of our lives. It has to be a life style.
My recent trip around Europe involved too much sitting, beer, cheese and pasta and no exercise. I did sweat but that was only because it was so hot in Italy. It has taken me a little while to get back into my exercise routine but now I’m back at it.
I continue to move my body as it ages and it gets harder to keep hold of fitness and flexibility. I love moving my body. I know the feeling of mastery of a movement: having mastered a skill then pushing it to the next level. Having the confidence in your body to be able to accelerate: stretching out with your arm and pulling back with strength; leaning forward on your bike and pushing down hard with your legs; putting your weight into a lean or jump, or pull, or push, knowing your body will respond and reward you with a rush. But the full reward of that rush can only be realised after a foundation of work and effort has been built. It needs discipline, effort, practice, refinement and improvement.
We can’t all be as talented and focused or graceful as Olympic athletes or AFL footballers. We don’t need to be in order to feel that euphoria of achievement. This kind of movement is not a chore but a JOY.
Dorothea MacKellar’s famous ode to Australia echoes loudly down through the generations.
The harsh Australian sun has taken its toll on my fair freckled skin after a youth spent outdoors. This week I have had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my forehead.
Spending my childhood and teenage years outdoors without a hat or sunscreen was normal for me and my generation. I spent most of my free daylight hours outside playing tennis, swimming, and water-skiing. Cracked lips, peeling noses, and sun burnt skulls were badges of honour as proof of sun-worship. My skin did tan to a light golden colour and to me this was some kind of validation of my Australian identity, shunning my English, Scottish and French ancestry. I inherited my skin type from my mother and aunt and they both have had many nasty things cut and burnt from their skin. My aunt who will turn 90 years of age this year has had so many cuts made to her face that she looks like she has been in a car accident. She is not the slightest bit vain about it and I admire her common-sense and practical attitude.
I still enjoy an active outdoor life but nowadays I wear a hat and sunscreen. Unfortunately the damage is already done and I fear this little operation may be the first of many.
The recent Web 2.0 conference resulted in some new connections with suggestions and requests for more work. With a couple of days off work I know my workload is piling up. I have lots to do. I need to report on the conference; think about writing an article for an organisation whose representative approached me after my presentation, create more wikis, find some appropriate videos for classroom projects, transfer the library content from our intranet to the new content management system, as well as my usual library work. Not to mention catching up on reading the email, blogs and twitters that will be accumulating.
Just do it! A term coined by a man I’d bet. Many women who are mothers don’t have time to “just do” anything else except be a mother.
Trying not to lose track of the lap count in my head, I thought about my exercise routine as I enjoyed my early morning swim. I have always tried to be active but when women have babies their bodies are not their own, and then when the babies grow into children and teenagers, the mothers time is not their own. Twenty years can disappear in the blink of an eye while all the attention for nurturing is on the children, not oneself.
It feels like a luxury for me to do as I please now without having to first consider the schedules, demands and needs of others. Having said that, I miss the daily conversations and interactions with my children, that I enjoyed for all those years.
So I swim, do pilates, lift weights, practice yoga, cycle and walk; all of these regularly. It feels great and I feel stronger, fitter and healthier than I have for a long time.
Given the choice I would exercise before I went online. A walk outside breathing in the fresh air interests me more that surfing the net. I admire those who have a regular exercise routine and use their web time to try to inspire others to exercise by logging their efforts. Keep it up Leo.
