Yesterday, a five minute freewrite

in #freewrite5 years ago

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I lived in Amsterdam for 15 years and got used to having easy access to good, reasonably priced organic food. Returning to Dublin 5 years ago when my father fell ill I was shocked at how difficult it was to source clean food here. While Amsterdam was able to sustain a multitude of organic shops all over the city, Dublin, with double the population, had only one, located 7 km out of town.

Dubliners seem to have little interest in clean food and are content to go to the local Lidl, spending their hard-earned instead on big TVs and even bigger cars. No, I’m not being a snob about Lidl, but you are what you eat and your health is your wealth and all that, so I prefer to bet on the quality of something grown 20km away and sold to me by the grower for a fair price, then something sourced who knows where from someone who is likely being screwed by the supermarket.

There is a farmer's market in town on Saturdays where I stock up for the week but sometimes midweek if I need anything I head off on me bike.

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To make a short story long, yesterday was such a day and with the temperature gauge showing 24 beautiful degrees Celsius, I hopped on my trusty steed and headed for the hills along the beautiful scenic Grand Canal, with ducks and swans aplenty and breathable air which not alone promotes a sense of mental wellbeing but, being off road, multiplies by 100 your chance of reaching your destination alive.

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Dublin roads are notoriously cycling unfriendly and even en route to the Grand Canal my partner in many crimes @robbieretard was nigh on decapitated by the wing mirror of a double-decker bus, the driver of which at least had the good grace to apologise, as well as being almost mowed down by a car speeding through a red light, the driver of which had no grace at all.

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Sad to see that some of the city's homeless are now living in tents alongside the canal, which is lovely on a day like this but when Winter comes I imagine it's anything but pleasant. The authorities seem to have stopped trying to move them on probably because there's nowhere to move them on to.

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On the way back we made our customary stop for a paddle at the beach where the tide was in or out.......I'm still not sure which is which

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depositing some lovely soft warm dried seaweed for our pedicurial pleasure. Yes I know pedicurial isn’t a word but I think it should be.

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There were even some kite surfers you can see in the above photo if you have a magnifying glass handy or in the photo below as the wind changed direction and they were blown closer to the shore.

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Posted in response to @mariannewest's five- minute freewrite challenge.
The prompt today was 'wellbeing'

All photos are my own and taken yesterday.

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So come here @deirdyweirdy... Ya wouldn't throw your hat in the ring for the auld presidential election would ya?? Love your outlook on things. I must say I'm guilty of buying a lot from Tesco, Aldi etc.. I do occasionally stock up on veg at a local farm here in Ashbourne, but I should really do it every week. We use a local butcher sometimes too, but again we often use the supermarket. I guess I'm a victim of convenience, as spare time is a scarce commodity. I know, I know, stop making excuses 😊

My soul is not quite black enough for the politics game besides, have you seen the size of the Aras? I'd never navigate it with my sense of direction.
The way I see it is voting is all a sham and the only real power we have is the kind of business we support with our cash. Thus I don't give to multinationals who screw both producers and workers.

What a beautiful day - besides the crazy drivers!!

You won a 100% upvote :) Someday, that will actually mean something LOL but this is what we got and it is given with love
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Received with many thanks. Who doesn't love to be a winner? Thanks again!

@deirdyweirdy Thank you for not using bidbots on this post and also using the #nobidbot tag!

howdy there deirdyweirdy! wow what wonderful scenery you guys have over there! I'd be riding that route everyday when the weather is nice, what's your excuse? lol.

It's a little sad that there are no organic food shops in town, Dublin must be behind the times, they need to get with it!
This is a great post, really enjoyed seeing some of your geography!

Thanks Mr J, we're certainly lagging behind mainland Europe when it comes to decent food. People here seem to prefer to chow down on burritos and doughnuts, thus our increasingly obese population.

howdy again deirdyweirdy! ohhh I love burritos and donuts! But I only eat them about once a year unfortunately but that's quite bizarre isn't it? That these junk food places are taking over and everyone is getting fat?
People just suddenly forgot how to eat right?

Yes I know pedicurial isn’t a word but I think it should be.

Then it is. Best reason to invent a word :)

I like this, you wrote about well-being without any of that happy-cheery thing that usually goes along with the word.

I leave all the happy cheery stuff to you Hon;)

It still baffles me the rate of homelessness in the developed World though.

Not surprised a lot of people don't bother with fresh, healthy foods, we've more or less given into consumerism of processed, unhealthy products. Oh well...

Nice shots btw

If we had less regulation and more common sense there'd be nobody living on the street.
As to food, I wish people would realise that it comes from the ground and not from the supermarket shelf.

We have plenty of markets in my town, yet, for lack of regulations, most peasants sell imported fruit and vegetable... I don't even know what happens to local products.

In this upside down world of ours, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more profit to be made from selling imported rather than local produce and your local produce is probably for sale somewhere here in Dublin!
I'm lucky to be able to get about 90% of what I eat from a producer whose farm is only 25km away and who invites you to drop in anytime and have a look at how your food is being treated.

That's great.. Where abouts is that?

I sometimes use New Barn Farm/ The Donkey Shed for some local vegetables... if you're ever over Ashbourne way, check it out. They have a cafe too and it's the business 👍

We go to McNally's who sell at Temple Bar market every Saturday, Their farm is at Balrickard, Co. Dublin.

Hermoso

You are brave to ride your bike there and thank goodness your friend didn't get hurt. The scenery is beautiful! : )

Well, he had a pretty sore head!

Poor guy. I meant to say thank goodness he didn't get seriously hurt.
I didn't realize that your dad had been ill for 5 years.

Dad had Alzheimer's for the last 5 years or so but was never physically unwell until he suddenly took ill about 6 weeks ago.
I wouldn't worry about @robbieretard. He has a very hard head.

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We need your outlook on life to prevail in America. Instead of being such consumers (and producers of waste, and litterbugs, and carbon-footprinters), we need to be like you. I love all your photos and anecdotes and insights!

Oh and I love your partner in crime!

If you want to give me your address, I'm sure I could package and send him!

LOL!! Ever read the Flat Stanley books? :)

I haven't actually. I just Googled them now and learned something new today!

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