The Working Holiday

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For the past two years I have travelled to Australia to visit my son, where he lives and works as a chief. Its a great time for me to spent a week catching up with those things phone calls and emails leave out. Kind of like filling in the spaces or joining the dots of a incomplete picture.

What i do is i work for my son in his kitchen as the hours chiefs keep are very unsociable so it started as the best way to maximise the time spent for one week. I find the work hard and exciting and illuminating all in one.

 The hard side is the fact we worked from mid morning to the early hours of the next day. It is a life process you arrive at the kitchen great your work mates talk about whats happened and the night before. You then start the preparation for the meals this is the most interesting time you get to talk laugh and see the passion of the cooking staff, as they swap ideas and plans, be it changes to menus or stubble differences to a recipe they are working on all do to the beat of loud music a amongst the hustle of a working kitchen.

The excitement builds as plans are completed successfully and dead lines are meet. Time just seams to go so fast as the day turns into late afternoon when the staff stop for a meal before service. Indecently this also is discussed new ideas tried digested and evaluated by all staff . In my sons kitchen all staff where involved in the decisions even me (my input was embarrassed simple( Yea  I liked it). Finally the excitement  lifts again as service begins and has its own set of peaks and troughs , until the last dinners leave when the work starts again cleaning, placing orders for the next day and evaluating how the night went.

The aspect of illumination is one of my own. Joel (my son) the chief suggested I work with him and i readily agreed. What I didn't expect was how i was to work. I thought Ill wash dishes and was happy with that , what else could I possibly do my cooking is limited to my own kitchen no training but passionate about the taste i want. The chief had a completely different view and I his father was suited up a thrown in the deep end to work beside him. I was shown some task once then expected to complete to his exacting expectations. The pressure was huge, how could he expect me to complete tasks people train for years and still fail.

Later that night actually much later, as chiefs once all tasks are complete what do they do , they go out for dinner.  We sat down to eat at 2.30 am in china town. After a meal and a drink, in bed i lay there my head spinning from the past 15 hours i got to thinking what makes people who they are?  I was still in shock as to what Joel had had me do in a working kitchen. I was thinking did he trust me, did he think I was better than what I really am? He had unwittingly turned the table on me.

When Joel was just a young boy he  too worked with me, for the same reason if he didn't work with me his time with me was limited. I too expected him to carry out adult  tasks unaided.  I enjoyed working with him as he was fast on the uptake and could be trusted to complete any task I set him. In retrospect I expected a lot from a young boy.  Did this shape the man he is now and is it true "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree"? 

Winter Work

I don't get upset about the end of summer, each season has its advantages so I try and make the most of each one. Each season has a set of routines i tend to follow and autumn is firewood time.

At the end of summer I finished packing away my winters supply of firewood.

Then within a week I started on next years supply, its a never ending cycle. One I enjoy I have yet to figure out what it is about firewood I finding so satisfying?

I think that it is hard-wired into our psyche, something that stems from a earlier time when it was a natural and important action. Way back in time If we didn't have fire and the fuel to keep it we died. I therefore come from a long line of successful wood gathers.

Today I removed a large limb from one of the two gum trees on our section. The gum trees are such a great tree they grow so fast I swap trees from year to year and they regenerate about one third of our needs.

My father always said if we could store the heat generated from cutting fire wood we wouldn't need the wood, so true. The weather was still and cool today but in no time I was very warm, just a great feeling when you stand back and survey you mornings efforts.

The whole effort was supervised by Henrich a veteran work watcher. He is one of the main beneficiaries of the firewood as he commands front and centre on the mat in front of the fire each night.

Old Habits

I I I I I

Got home from a ride this afternoon and was going thorough my post ride clean up. It occurred to me that we are creatures of habit and old habits tend to die hard.

What I'm getting to is years ago I worked for one of the greatest men I've had the pleasure to know. It was on a farm he worked by himself if and when he needed help he hired me. It was hard work long hours and removed from any home comforts, but I loved every day of it because he was so fair, appreciative, and kind. Unwittingly I learnt so much from him.

Today Sal ran the point track twice with the dogs and I rode the pug. As we started the rain arrived it got cold and wet but was a good outing.

When we got home, here's the habit first the dogs got dried and tended to then I washed my bike then I came in side and sorted my wet gear then had a shower. My old employer would always say at the end of a long tough day, first clean the horses and turn them out then feed the dogs then feed yourself. As I was washing the bike his habit came back to me and in a way here I was doing the same dog, horse, self.

great ride and to finish scones and jam with a hot cup of tea.