Yesterday Peter read about a garlic festival in the newspaper. Since he eats garlic pretty much every day, he was really keen to go. I wasn’t sure what one would DO at a garlic festival, but it would be fragrant at least. He wanted me to go with him especially because, he said, it would make a great blog post. Now, dear readers, do you really want to read 500 words about garlic?
Anyway, the bigger issue for us these days is time. Like lots of seniors, we have very busy days. Here is a typical one:
Get up early to go to the bathroom. Unplug CPAP machine, remove wrist brace, mouth guard. Put on glasses. Take the first pill of the day.
Pour coffee and search the newspaper for the sudoku, to get some brain exercise.
Prepare breakfast with bran, hemp, flax seed, fibre, and prunes.
Do morning exercises for sore neck, achy wrist, and stiff knee.
Make a batch of vegetable soup for lunch. Be sure to add lots of beans. Don’t forget lunch-time pills.
After lunch, plan an outing for the day. Choose from: a trip to the drug store to renew prescriptions, or a visit to the hair dresser for colour touch-up, or an appointment with the dentist for gum work.
Come home and have a nap.
Call the grandchildren to say hello. What? They’re too busy to talk right now?
Do afternoon exercises. Same as the morning, just more.
Prepare dinner and have a glass of wine for fortification.
Play more brain games. Keep those synapses firing.
Do evening exericises.
Prepare for bed: take more pills, put on mouth guard, wrist brace and CPAP machine. Take off glasses.
Fall into bed, exhausted.
With such a full schedule, how can we possibly fit in a garlic festival? Well, as a dedicated writer and wife, it was my obligation to do some research. It turns out that there really IS a Garlic Society and their annual festivals are Ontario-wide celebrations. The festivals include lots of booths selling garlic products: desserts like garlic brownies, garlic donuts and garlic ice cream. Or there are garlic smoothies and even garlic shots served up by baristas.
Then you can go to a lecture: on the history of garlic, or on garlic as a wellness product for treating high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and brain cancer. And, if lectures aren’t your style, you can enter a special contest. That’s right, a Garlic Breath Contest. Your breath is measured using a kind of meter like the police use for testing blood alcohol. Surely there must be a prize for submitting yourself to such embarrassment!
After unselfishly giving up my exercise time to do all this research, I discovered that this year’s in-person garlic festivals have been cancelled due to covid. But you can still go online for some fun activities. I decided that Peter really needed to be involved, so I submitted his name. He’s going to have an even busier week!
Sue
Seventy In the City 
Perfect timing, Sue! Of all things I forgot this year: to plant my garlics!!
And sobering (in an oh-so-funny way) was your journal of the day’s activities. I hope to get there someday and perhaps avoid some of those challenges. Sure could use a CPAP already though!
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I bet you are getting lots of comments about all the “stayin’ alive” activities us seniors need to follow. I think someone noted the need for an excel sheet for the timing of their meds in the past. Well, I’m happy to say that I planted my garlic just today. Waiting for some more leaves to fall so I can cover the bed with a blanket of leaves too. Delightful reading Sue!!
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Interesting about the garlic, but scary to think our daily routines are so very similar, and at the end of the day, we can’t believe that the it is over. Very entertaining read.
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