The Melbourne City Council, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that October 21st is not too early to put the bloody Christmas tree up in the City Square.
As if it is not a difficult enough time of year for me without me having it on my mind 2 months out.
Bastards
My run this afternoon was a bit wild and wooly, a wicked cross wind going over Morrel Bridge nearly lifted me up and dropped me in the river, the head wind up Anderson Street was particularly cruel and coming back around the tan near the pillars a little willy-willy whipped up and I got a face full of dirt. Despite this I still managed a decent 9.3km in 45 minutes, after which I spent some time on the grass back at Birrarung Marr (the park near Federation Square) where I did some stretches and crunches. Tomorrow I get to double up, but just an easy 20 minute recovery pace.
Don’t worry folks, I manage to keep the Black Puppy of mine in check and despite having him jump around and nip at my heels since my late teens he does not seem to want to grow into a big dog. Thus far I have been able to keep him shut up in the laundry if he bothers me too much. Some of my family members have suffered from full blown Depression so I am certainly aware of what it can do to a person, without going into too much detail there have been breakdowns and lost years. However we are a small close knit family and with support everyone has always pulled though and I count my occasional moody periods as a very minor manifestation and I have my ways of coping.
I didn’t want to write that and it is all I care to share, however it is not some awful dark secret that needs to be hidden away like it once was, in my Grandmothers time the attitudes were far different to what they are today. Personally I don’t believe there really is any kind of normal, just degrees of madness and we are all touched in our own way aren’t we.
Enough of that now.
Have the other WordPress bloggers discovered the nifty new Poll feature? I have been itching to post one so here goes, hope it works –
My dad had a severe bout of depression shortly after he retired – it was a really tough time. A few others in the family have suffered to a similar degree that yours sounds like. It does help to share a little I think.
Comment by Andrew(AJH) — October 21, 2008 @ 8:54 pm
blooming windy today..nice run honey bunch
Comment by jojo — October 21, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
I noticed the Christmas tree up, and all the Chrissie stuff in the supermarkets. When my son was young we had a strict “no Christmas stuff until 1st December” rule and I think that’s the right way to do it.
Comment by Kathryn — October 21, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
All of my family have suffered from some sort of mental illness, mostly depression/anxiety. I thought I was immune but I was very wrong. It has made me appreciate my health a lot more and also reminded me that the little black puppy needs to be barricaded actively! Running, painting and laughing helps this.
Comment by sassycil — October 21, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
Oh good. I like hot cross buns. Oh… you were joking. Damn you.
Comment by JH — October 22, 2008 @ 10:48 am
But how will all the companies sell even more stuff we don’t need if they don’t extend the Christmas season?
Comment by Jason — October 22, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
It should be Christmas ALL YEAR ROUND- so I can be round ALL YEAR after eating pudding and drinking wayyyy too much and the only exercise I will get will be teaching my brother to dance the running man at midnight on Christmas Eve. I voted November- but I meant the year before.
Comment by Sara — October 22, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
Ta for the advice on the blog – Cilla
Comment by sassycil — October 22, 2008 @ 8:19 pm
You had me going with the hot cross buns. Yum. I like them so much I have a rule – they can only be eaten on Good Friday!
Sounds like it’s windy everywhere. A cold icy wind in Canberra today. Brrr! Matches the Christmas tree if we lived in the Northern Hemisphere.
Comment by kathy — October 22, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
It was blowing a gale up here too.
Voting early and often for 24 December seems to work well.
Comment by Ewen — October 22, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
Christmas is not allowed to start until after my birthday, therefore it’s always been the second week of December for our family.
And now that I live a long way away from my family, I don’t do Christmas. And that’s best of all!
Except for the whisky cake…
Comment by Louise — October 27, 2008 @ 4:42 pm