Plate of Grapes

My little corner of the internet

• Gaps

  Another long gap between posts. How easy it is to fall out of habit as the year progresses.

  Here we are nearing December and I feel as though so many of the habits I worked so hard to maintain are falling to the side.

  I had a couple weeks of illness which derailed my running. For the past two years my goal had been to run 1000 kms in a year, and I did so in 2021 and 2022, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to make it in 2023. I’ll get close, but not quite there.

  I have not been posting on here regularly, although it has been on my mind. I have taken photos and had thoughts. I have been creating, but I haven’t been sharing it on Plate of Grapes. Perhaps I will find a way to share more on this in the coming weeks. I know I want to, but for some reason I haven’t been doing so.

  I have been writing quite frequently. My goal is to write 50,000 words this month. It’s an idea sprung from the NaNoWriMo that takes place every November where young writers are encouraged to write 50,000 words during the month of November – the approximate number of words in a novel. I am not a young writer, but I felt up to the challenge this month and it has been quite enjoyable keeping on top of it.

  Here are some photos from a brief visit to LA a couple of months ago that I’ve been meaning to post:

  Marriage and divorce:

  

  Red room:

  

  Entering the dome:

  

  Levitated Mass

  

  

• Wide open and ready

  I have not posted in a while – in over a month I believe – and the longer I go without posting, the harder it seems to want to post.

  So I am going to try to break my non-posting rut I have been in and post today.

  Here is a photo I took last month at the zoo.

  

  This seal kept swimming by my son and every couple of times he would swim by he’d open his mouth and kind of lunge at my son. There were a couple people and kids there watching the seal, but he only did it to my son.

  We were behind glass and safe, obviously, but I’m quite impressed I actually managed to get a shot of the seal with its mouth wide open and ready.

  I struggle with visiting zoos. On the one hand, it’s great to be able to see so many animals up close and most zoos do a lot to highlight the importance of conservation efforts, so it’s a good learning experience.

  On the other hand, there’s the huge moral dilemma of keeping animals caged up outside of their habitats. There has been so much documented about how it impacts their mental health so poorly.

  Perhaps, in a couple of decades, we won’t believe that zoos even existed – how cruel they seemed and how backwards we were to keep them for so long.

• Cascade Springs

  I grew up in the mountains and a couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go back there and explore a bit with some friends and family.

  

  It has been a hot summer in North America, but the mountains were cool not too hot.

  

  Nature is an easy subject to photograph, especially the mountains. It had been a very snowy, wet winter and the mountains were greener than I normally see them.

  

  Cascade Springs was a beautiful location to visit. The springs cascade through limestone terraces and sparkling pools. It’s like visiting a fairy tale.

  

  I didn’t see any large wildlife, but it wasn’t hard to imagine a moose enjoying their morning drink here.

  I keep this blog, this plate of grapes, to try to find some beauty in this world and to try to make sense of everything that is happening. It provides an outlet for me to be somewhat creative, even if nobody reads this.

  Today, it has provided me with some much needed stress relief. It is nice to be reminded of all the beauty in this world. We are very fortunate to have this planet, this earth. It has given us so much.

  

  There is a bee hiding behind that flower. If you look closely, you can see the hairy bum peeking out.

• A 10k in July

  I ran a 10 km race yesterday. It wasn’t my first, and it probably won’t be my last.

  I actually didn’t want to run it at all. For the past couple weeks I wasn’t feeling great about being out and running. It didn’t feel as fresh as it has in the past. It just felt tiring. I wondered why I had even signed up for this race. Last year, I had done the half marathon run with Run Melbourne as part of my marathon training.

  I’m not training for a marathon this year, and since I ran the half marathon last year, I’d already run the 10k route as part of that.

  I signed up because I wanted to run a sub-1 hour 10k. I had never done that before and I thought it might be possible on the Run Melbourne course because it’s a pretty flat course.

  I never run races with a time in mind to beat. In fact, before smart phones and sport watches, I usually never had any idea how fast I ran any of my runs. My goal is usually just to finish a race and not have to walk as much as possible. But at this point, I’ve run a 10k distance quite a few times, so I know I can run that far without stopping, and I thought maybe I should try to beat my time too. Try to actually get under that one hour mark.

  I told myself that if I tried hard and really worked at it, I’d be able to do it. So I wanted to prove to myself that I actually could.

  However, leading up to the race, I wasn’t really feeling it. I meant to do regular strength training to improve my form and time. I didn’t really do that. I mean to run more frequently during the week, and I didn’t really do that either. Last weekend I ran 9.5 kms and had a massive migraine the rest of the day. It made me question my choice of running as a sport. I took it easy running during the week on Tuesday and Thursday.

  I had not only one, but two dreams on Sunday night that I had missed the race.

  My family wasn’t planning on meeting me there. Late Saturday night my husband said he’d try to get down with the boys to see me finish, but I wasn’t planning on having my cheer squad to look forward to during the race.

  On Sunday morning when my alarm went off, I thought I should probably just stay in bed.

  But I didn’t.

  I got up. I got ready. I rode my bike down to the race. I decided to just run and see what happens. I know I would feel worse if I didn’t run.

  So I ran.

  At the 5k mark, I looked down at my watch and saw that it was over 30 minutes, so I didn’t think I’d have a chance at finishing under one hour.

  But I kept going.

  And I finished in less than an hour… with 15 seconds to spare!

  

  I was reminded of why I love running.

  There is a famous quote by Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon wearing a bib (she didn’t tell them she was a woman). It was so outrageous back then that they tried to pull her off the course:

  If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon. 

  -Kathrine Switzer

  I always get a bit emotional at the beginning of a road race. Being around so many people who have all pulled themselves out of bed early on a weekend to run, for whatever reason they have, but there were literally thousands of people running for thousands of reasons.

  When I’m running, I remind myself of how lucky I am to be running a race. I have my health, I have the time to train, I live somewhere that’s safe enough to run in with clean air and beautiful scenery.

  One day, I may no longer be able to run, and I’ll probably wonder why I didn’t run more when I had the chance.

  And even though I didn’t think I’d have a good run. Even though I didn’t want to do it at all. I did it. And it worked out with the best outcome I was hoping for.

  Even now, after running dozens of 10ks, three half marathons, and a marathon, I can still surprise myself with running.

  So I guess I won’t give up the sport yet.

• Lightscape

  The Botanical Gardens in Melbourne hosts and immersive light and sound experience in the winter months. I went last week and took a couple photos I think turned out quite nice.

  

  

  

  

  

• Guru Purnima

  

  Monday was the first full moon after the solstice, when the moon is closest to the earth and shines brightest in the sky. Those who practice Vedic meditation celebrate with Guru Purnima.

  I have been practicing Vedic meditation for three years. Every day, twice daily, I meditate for twenty minutes.

  In an earlier post, I wrote briefly about running and how it has become a big part of my life. The same can be said of my meditation practice, perhaps even more so. For years I tried to find ways to meditate on a regular basis. About 8 years ago, I learned an aquaintance of mine had started practicing Vedic meditation and had even become a Vedic teacher in New York.

  Vedic teachers offer a free introduction to the meditation practice and for years I tried to find a way to go; however, I never ended up finding the time and moved away from New York.

  When I arrived in Melbourne, it stayed on my mind and finally, three years ago, I set up a time to go to one of the intro talks with Mahasoma and finally carved out three evenings to learn the practice. Since then, I have been meditating on a regular basis.

  It took more than just learning the practice. It took me deciding to prioritize meditation and finding the time.

  Meditation has not been the answer to everything, but I am so grateful to have it as part of my life. Vedic meditation in flexible and easy, as I feel meditation should be.

  I don’t often participate in the community events, but I was happy to join the celebration on Monday. It was an incredible opportunity to reconnect, relax, and feel inspired.

• n

  

• Other jobs

  Often when I’m working at my desk or sitting in meetings high in office buildings, I imagine myself on the other side of the window, dangling from a rope, and slowly washing the window with a spray bottle and a window scraper. I think of making my way across the building and up and down floors, watching those on the inside in their suits and skirts, sit in florescent lighting and recycled air, while I breathe in the fresh air of the outside and feel the wind on my face.

  Once, I was with a group of people and someone made a comment about quitting their jobs and working as a gardner. Someone else asked if that was their ‘other job’.

  In quick progression, everyone started sharing their ‘other jobs’: flower shop owner, dog walker, window washer, baker.

  For some reason or another, we didn’t end up in these other jobs, and even if we had, perhaps it wouldn’t have turned out as expected; however, every once it a while, when sitting in a meeting we’d rather not be in, it’s nice to dream.

• The drip

  I took some time the other day to go on a walk without my phone.

  I found myself in a laneway behind some homes. A house had a planter hanging from a low window.

  It had rained that morning and everything was still a bit wet.

  I stopped to look at the plants and notice the drips that were still sitting on a leaf.

  There was one drip that was blanced on the end of a leaf, not yet falling, just waiting at the very tip.

  I reached out my finger to touch it and it transferred to my fingertip.

  I moved it back to the top of the leaf so it could start it’s journey again, spend some more time on the leaf before finally falling to the ground.

• The Great Ocean Road

  This past weekend I ran 23 kms along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

  

  The Great Ocean Road is a 240 km stretch of road along the southern coastline of Australia and my run was just a short stretch of it.

  It was part of the Great Ocean Road Running Festival. There were many events as part of the festival including a marathon and ultramarathon distance. This was my second time running the 23km half marathon distance from Kennet River to Apollo Bay.

  

  The run is stunning. The views are beautiful. This past weekend there was a strong headwind as we ran. I was quite worried about it as I find it quite difficult to run in the wind, but it worked out ok and I finished 20 minutes faster than two years ago.

  Running has become a big part of my life. I have run for decades and have become more consistent with it the past couple years. I wake up early in the mornings a couple days a week and run before I start my day. If I have time or if I’m training for a longer race, I’ll do longer runs on the weekend.

  It has become something that I have learned to enjoy. Of course it is tiring, but it is also quite rewarding. Since I have started waking up early more consistently, I have been rewarded with incredible morning views. I have seen the bats returning home in the morning and the birds waking up for the day. I have seen hot air balloons sore over the morning sky. I have seen incredible sunrises and rainbows. It allows me time to listen to interesting podcasts. To feel the weather. To feel alive. I’m grateful that I have it in my life and I’m grateful for the opportunity to run in beautiful places like the Great Ocean Road.

  

• The future

  I watched Wall-E this past weekend with my son. It’s his favorite movie and we’ve seen it many times.

  As you probably know, it starts zooming in to the earth in the year 2805.

  

  In March, there was a treaty to try to find a solution to clean up all the space junk because, right now, Earth is basically looking like it’s Pixar post-apocalyptic self in terms of sattelite traffic:

  

  I’m sure I’m not the first to notice this. I guess 2805 isn’t as far away as it seems.

  Hopefully we’ll get ourselves cleaned up.

• A walk in the botanical gardens

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Nature performing for today’s post.

• Moonrise at the beach

  

  It is hard to capture the moon with a phone camera.

  It was an Easter weekend moon,

  large and bright,

  rising around sunset,

  while I stood on a beach at a National Park,

  looking at the moon, rising over the lights of the suburbs.

• We’ve learned to live with it. 

  The ear shattering scream cut through the crowded restaurant instantly silencing everyone from their conversations. The patrons and staff all turned to look in the direction of the noise.

  A 30-something woman was the source. Her hands were on either side of her head as she screamed and screamed with her head thrown back, her face twisted in distress.

  The screams stopped as quickly as they had begun. There was a moment of complete silence before the women started weeping uncontrollably. The frozen faces of the rest of the people in the restaurant began to soften and gradually turn back to their tables and softly talk among themselves. Her husband or date or friend or whoever she was dining with stood up, visibly shaking. Two waitresses quickly made their way to the table to help him lift the women from her seat. 

  She continued to cry and sob loudly as they gradually made their way out the restaurant. The man gently stroked her back as they walked. His face and body tense. The look of shock and surprise on his face. 

  This was the second time this week I had been in the same location as someone having an ‘episode’ – the term everyone now uses to refer to these meltdowns.

  The ‘episodes’ had started about six months ago. At first it seemed like a one off. People having these meltdowns in public here or there. People even suspected it was copycat cases at first.  But then the frequency began to pick up. More and more people were being inflicted and it didn’t seem to discriminate. 

  They think the first ‘episodes’ started in the USA or Europe, but some say there were early cases in Asia and South America too. Wherever they started, they are all over the world now, and getting more frequent. 

  For the past six months scientists and doctors have been collecting data and running statistics, but there seems to be no pattern that anyone can see. The victims don’t need to know each other or come in contact. It doesn’t matter what age (although most children seem to be exempt). It’s pretty equal between men and women. No race or culture seems to be more infected. They don’t share blood types and no situation or pathogen are shared between the cases.

  People have speculated on various causes. Some suspect the increase in cellular activity. Others blame all the processed food. Many think it’s that we are too detached from one another or too inactive or there is too much pollution or too many bright lights, or too little religion, or too much violence and uncertainty, but in reality, none of us know why this is happening.

  It’s completely and totally random. The only thing that isn’t is the steady increase in cases. 

  At first people stayed in and tried to limit their time outside, but it quickly became clear that it didn’t matter if you stayed in or not. 

  Each ‘episode’ basically has the same run of symptoms. It starts with the screaming. The screaming never lasts long. It’s random. There are no signs leading up to screaming. Some people are in mid-sentence. Others are silently reading a book. Some have been meditating. Even the President of Ghana broke into screams a third of the way through a speech. There is nothing to indicate that someone is about to start screaming. They scream, and scream, but never for more than a minute.

  As soon as they’re done screaming. They start weeping and crying uncontrollably. They won’t respond to anything. Won’t answer you if you talk to them. Won’t look at anything they are shown. They just cry and sob, but they can be moved somewhat easily. Occasionally people won’t budge, but for the most part they can be gently led around. Much the same as the woman in the restaurant.

  After crying for an hour to two hours, they mostly just lay and stare – nearly comatose, for up to a week. Occasionally they will sip a drink or roll to a different side.

  They used to keep people in the hospital on IVs during this time, but now they just have nurses come and hook up an IV at the patient’s house. It keeps the hospital beds free as there’s no reason for the patient to be in the hospital.

  After about a week, they blink a couple times, stand up, and restart their lives again. 

  They remember nothing about the ‘episode’. There doesn’t seem to be any long term issues other than a week of lost time. 

  Sure there have been a couple unfortunate issues. A couple car crashes while people have been driving. There was that one case at the abattoir that ended tragically. Lifeguards have had to jump in and save swimmers. But in general, people have reacted quickly and worked together to get the patients to a safe place. Now that we know what to look for we’re all quick to respond.

  We’ve learned to live with it. 

  After they took the woman out of the restaurant, I turned back to my two friends I was dining with. I mentioned that was the second ‘episode’ I’d witnessed this week. One of the friends I was dining with had an ‘episode’ two months ago. They both nod in general acknowledgement and we started talking about the eggplant chips that we ordered and the show we’re seeing after dinner. 

  I wonder when I will have an ‘episode’.

• On Water

  Today is World Water Day. What does that mean? Water is our life. Water is our everything.

  Our world is a water world. Our existence is water. For millions of years we were only covered in oceans, no land in sight.

  We look out over the oceans from our place on land and see nothing but endless water, water that we cannot drink. However, underneath is more life than we can even imagine. It is filled with species that seem to alien to us just swimming around. The manta rays with their perfectly adapted bodies that glide so elegantly through the water. The beautiful and delicate seahorses wrapping themselves among the seaweed. What act of nature created such beauty? Things the most imaginative among us would struggle to come up with on our own.

  

  I like to walk along water. I have found myself strolling along bodies of water all over the world. Along the Charles in Boston, the Thames in London, Yangtze in Shanghai, the Sydney Harbour and Yarra River in Australia, the Vancouver Harbour, the East River in New York, and many more. I’ve wandered along all of them, lost deep in thought. Sometimes listening to music, but always listening to my racing thoughts. How often have I walked past water that I’ve known before? How much water have I known in my lifetime?

  

  We are mostly made up of water. Our bodies are bodies of water in themselves, constantly being recycled. Water is always on the move.

  Even when it is frozen, it continues to move, if only at a glacial pace. Sculpting our mountains and valleys.

  

  I listened to a podcast once on an interview with a water advocate. It was her goal to speak for water, to be the spokesperson between water and humans.

  Today, I write for the water, but every day is the water day as it has been for billions of years before today.

  Such simplicity and such perfection.