I could do with a bit of global warming right now! Is it just me and my old age or are the winters getting colder? It's too late to relocate, so I'd better rug up and put another log on the fire.
Long evenings like these by the fire lend themselves to introspection which tells me that I've been pretty lucky all my life. Not only do I now live in a comfortable home far away from city pressures and financial worries, but I'm also still in relatively good health to enjoy it all.
Not that I've ever been very fit, or for that matter, a fan of fitness. I've always treated my body like the engine in a car: the less wear, the less tear! By all means, give it the occasional oil change but other than that, use it as little as possible and, if you do take it for a spin, make it no more than a gentle drive in the country, and it'll last you a lifetime.
The stops and starts of hectic city traffic were definitely out. I still remember seeing all those headlights coming towards me on Parramatta Road as I was leaving Sydney on that early December morning in 1985. "You can keep it, you suckers", I thought to myself, "I'm out of here!" For most of my life I was lucky to have lived within walking distance of my place of work. Just imagine the wear and tear I was able to avoid!
My head was the only part of my body that got any decent work-out. Whatever was in there could never settle down to a gentle drive in the country, but instead preferred the rollercoaster ride from one new job to another every six or, at most, twelve months. My greatest fear was to grow stale in one job, and so I collected professional experiences and professional references the way a stamp-collector chases rare stamps.
All I'm collecting now is firewood for another cold night in Nelligen.
