Meat
As a child I never even heard of vegetarianism. It wasn't a possibility and as for veganism, well I might have thought it was some obscure eastern religion.
Once upon a raft in the middle of an Austrian lake, I pulled in a sea line with several hooks upon it. I must have been ten or eleven years old. On every hook there was a beautiful fish, writhing in the air, their silvery scales catching the sunlight of that August morning.
I called to my brother Paul who was on the shore, "I've caught some fish! What do I do?"
"Bash 'em with the paddle! Kill 'em!" he called back.
"What? I can't do that!" I said and paddled back to the shore with the writhing fish gradually dying in the air. Back on land Paul dispatched them without hesitation. They were duly gutted and my family later ate them but I could not eat a morsel. I was thinking of the fishes' bright eyes, the metallic appearance of their scales and the desperate gulping movement of their mouths.
Killing other creatures does not sit well with me. I do not like setting traps for rodents and I even have qualms about ending the lives of garden slugs and mosquitoes. Quite literally, I would not hurt a fly.
And yet I eat meat. It's quite a contradiction isn't it? Probably hypocritical. I guess that if I had to kill a pig and butcher it then I would not bother with pork products or if I had to kill a young sheep to get some lamb chops, I would surely turn around.
In supermarkets, meat is presented in such a way that you kind of forget about the slaughter of animals or their death throes. It is weighed then wrapped in plastic on polystyrene trays, not far from the yoghurts, the fresh pasta and the garlic bread. There are no protesters in the aisles waving placards or chanting, "Meat is Murder!"
Our son Ian is of course fully vegan - he practises what he preaches. Our daughter and son-in-law have vowed never to eat fish again after watching the "Seaspiracy" documentary and they only eat meat at the weekend. They are currently agonising over whether to put meat in Baby Phoebe's diet when she is older.
Shirley is more enthusiastic about following their lead than I am. My meat habit is well ingrained but at least we have been consciously reducing our meat intake and plenty of midweek meals do not involve cooking the flesh of dead animals.
The way that the meat industry works has a massive impact upon global warming and this is especially true in relation to cattle farming. I am sure that you already knew that. At a personal level I guess that we should all be doing a bit more to address climate change and reducing our meat intake is one of the ways we can all help, even if we are not ready to be fully vegetarian or vegan.
What do you think about meat consumption?
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/3iBcpdB
Mingling
The plastic box kinda kills the photo but it’s a must as the postman refuses
to use the letter box due to Mary’s game of bite the postie
It’s hot and humid today and just like the matriarch Winnie , used to do ,Dorothy has laid her nipples to cold concrete in an effort to remain cool.
The honeysuckle over the front door is heavy with perfume which can be smelt from halfway up the lane.
Just by opening the lounge window allows the perfume to creep around the cottage scot free.
Monday we will learn if the final covid restrictions will be lifted on June 21st.
I suspect they will in place for yet another month so hopefully the 19th of July will be the final cutoff point.
I hope so as I’m back in London for a whole three night weekend July 23rd
Look At him! Galavanting again ! I hear you say
My next jaunt to the city will be another eclectic visit.
The main thrust will be Nu’s post covid party where her friends from all over will finally meet together but on the Friday I have arranged to be a real geek for the day and will accompany my nephew to comic con at Olympia which will be a total first for me.
He asked me to meet up with him with typical Asperger’s understatement, and my emotional joy at being asked was probably lost with him as, to him the request was pragmatic and clear cut.
After all we have been in regular contact for the past three years.
I told an old friend that I was meeting up with him and the friend voiced some surprise that was the case which intrigued me.
Why wouldn’t I keep in touch ? even though I wasn’t a blood relative. I’ve known the boy since he was born!
Perhaps thirty years ago Nu and I took her wisecracking Liverpudlian nieces to Chester Zoo.
It was a magic afternoon with the pre teen girls playing up with me as their favourite aunts bestie and three decades later they have asked to recreate the afternoon with another visit with their own children in tow.
I shall be delighted to attend too.
So Leo and I will be geeks for the day very soon.
I shall wear my very best Walking Dead T shirt for the occasion .
I shall leave you with a late entry from the view from my window competition
And a poem about post covid mingling by Babs
Enjoy
Mingling
by Kim Stafford
Remember how we used to do it—
weaving through the crowd, brushing
shoulders, fingers touching a sleeve,
adjusting a lapel—first an old friend here,
then turn to banter with a stranger, finding
odd connections—“You’re from where?...You
know her!”—going deeper into story there, leaning
back in wonder, bending close to whisper, secrets
hidden in the hubbub, as if in the middle of this
melee you have found a room and lit a lamp…
then the roar of the crowd comes back,
someone singing out a name, another
bowing with a shriek of laughter,
slap on the back, bear hug void
of fear? Imagine!
Just imagine.
from Going Gently https://ift.tt/3cDHZUa
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