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May 22, 2005
Vegetables
Got into a sort of argument with Nathalie over vegetables. Like nearly everyone with children, and lots of people without children, we don't eat enough vegetables. Nathalie took it as a personal affront, because she does most of the cooking. She sees cooking purely as a chore, and eating mainly as a chore. You can see by the way she throws the settings on the table that she wishes she didn't have to do it. I'm probably mainly worried about not losing enough weight, although my running's going so badly right now that it doesn't matter.
It's not entirely clear why we're this tense. Some of what's making it worse: vacation, visiting, driving around the Cote d'Azur, Nathalie looking for a job, the approaching end of white collar jobs like mine in "expensive" locations (i.e. the western world) meaning I have to figure out how to reconvert myself without losing income, Nathalie's headaches from a stiff neck, my headaches also from spinal misalignment, the children, fatigue, a bad mattress, the looming routine, etc.
Vacation always leaves me tense. If you don't come back from time off with hopes so dashed you're suicidal, you must like Böll's story about the fisherman relaxing on the beach. You may find it means something, something about the second law of thermodynamics.
Colette organized a visit to Beaufort for this afternoon. Timothee and Emma were excited about that. Children have very low expectations. Even so, they spend a lot of time disappointed.
My head hurts. I decided to stay here. Nathalie was mad enough about the vegetables she didn't say goodbye.
Posted by Mark at May 22, 2005 02:24 PM