Glowing Grey

Every now and again fiction seems to reveal the truths that may be hidden in the reality of our daily lives. After all, a good story has to get its inspiration from somewhere.

But most of us don’t live a life that mimics a Pulitzer Prize winning tale. Or do we.

I for one have not been swept up in the arms of my prince charming and ridden off into the sunset while wrangling my cleavage hugging Victorian ballgown. Neither am I a wealthy heiress who traverses the ancient jungles of Asia in search of buried treasure. Nor have I, to my continued utter devastation, uncovered a long lost grimoire from my Celtic ancestors which unlocks my dormant, secret magical powers.

Nope, nothing that exciting.

If I were to name the book that best describes me at any given point in my life, it would be Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss.

“I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them Sam-I-Am.”
– Dr Seuss

I was never a big reader during my younger years, preferring instead to spend my time outside playing in the sunshine and fresh air. But when I did sit down to read, Dr Seuss was more often than not the author of choice selected both at home or in the school library.

I liked the library. If I close my eyes I can still see the layout of the rooms, along with the rows and rows of metal drawers which housed the reference cards for every book upon the shelves.

The Young Fiction section was in the back corner and the spines of Dr Seuss’s books would stand out brightly amongst all the others. You can guarantee they were well worn, nearly as torn with use and age as the giant world encyclopedia, which seemed to somehow find itself habitually open to the human anatomy pages and on display, like the holy grail, spotlighted in the centre of the room.

But of all the books, Green Eggs and Ham was my favourite.

And just like the Cat, trying new things was not my forte.

“You do not like them. So you say.

Try them! Try them! And you may.

Try them and you may, I say.”

– Dr Seuss

Dinner time was a joy in our household. Mum had a strict list of what she knew I would and wouldn’t eat and the list of “do not even think of putting that on my plate” items seemed to far outweigh the “fine, I’ll eat it”. But this didn’t deter her from trying to persuade me to try something new.

Conversation around the table was never dull and didn’t seem complete without at least one “I don’t like it” coming out of my mouth along with the occasional “That’s just gross”. Dad would usually reply with a sarcastic statement telling me I was going to get scurvy while Mum would simply take a breath and say, “Just try it!”.

We can at least all laugh about it now. I believed I was easy to cook for because the list wasn’t long but after becoming a Mum myself, I learned just how frustrating this whole routine must have been.

What it boiled down to was that I wasn’t prepared to try anything new. I assumed I wouldn’t like it and wasn’t prepared to give it a go and prove myself wrong.

I’d like to think my horizons have broadened over the years. My culinary palette has grown tremendously and I’ve tried lots of new things, some successful while others just got me into trouble.

No matter how much I try, every now and again I’m reminded of my childhood self and “I don’t like it” seems to still find it’s way into my vocabulary.

“Sam! If you let me be,

I will try them. You will see.”

– Dr Seuss

Recently, we bought tickets to the tennis and I reluctantly said I would go. Now I’m not a tennis fan generally, but wanted to spend the day with Mum and Andrew so I agreed.

They have tried to get me to go over the years but my excuses were normally, “I don’t like tennis”, or “It’ll be too hot” or “It’ll be too boring”. But this year I told myself to suck it up and just go.

But my assumptions were never realised. It was a little warm at times but we were in the shade which was my biggest concern as being in the hot sun all day was not my idea of fun. And surprise surprise, it wasn’t boring.

By the end of the night, yes night because we were there all day and night, I found myself saying, “Next time we need to bring some healthy snacks and a cushion because the seats are really hard.”

“Say! I like green eggs and ham!

I do! I like them Sam-I-Am!”

– Dr Seuss

As soon as the words left my mouth I realised I didn’t have the worst day ever. In fact, I can safely say I had a good day. It was long and I was tired but I still enjoyed myself and would go again.

I may not be going out to buy a racket and join the local club. Nor will I be likely to begin watching every game on the TV over the summer but I will most likely enjoy getting to spend another day with both my hubby and my Mum and do something different and that’s the main thing.

Until next time,

Thank you for reading.