Trina Machacek: Me and celery

When my eyes popped open this morning I wanted celery. Yes it was 5 a.m. Yes it was still dark. Yes that pull of celery was very strong. It was hard not to jump out of bed, scurry off to the refrigerator and rip off a stalk. Then gobble and crunch getting my bunny Zen going spitting little celery strings in the sink with a satisfying pa-tooey. You have a 50-50 chance of guessing if I did just that. Ah finally something to place a bet on since baseball and basketball have been cancelled!

Of course I also had a song in my head. My head seems to be full of so much stuff no matter what time it is or where I am. I thought of Cat Stevens singing Morning Has Broken. Now this I did do. I have a friend who is still in the work force so I got up and sent that song along to get my friend up and going. I mean I was up thinking of celery, I didn’t think it fair that I was up and nobody else was up. So I poked my nose into the working world and got my friend up and at it too. But! Yes a working “but.” But seems I was not the only one up before the sun as I had like four messages already squeaking for me to get up. One said to be sure to go out and look at the moon another told me to buy the newest face cream to make me all smooth like a balloon that has just had an extra shot of helium so my skin would smooth out and lift up my down turned face. Kinda like what I think of when I think of a late in the day clown head balloon tied with a string to a crying kid’s forearm. I do not admit to having a face that needs smoothing or up turning. HAHA I looked at the moon, very pretty, and passed on the helium skin care regimen. Then celery crept back into my upstairs compartment.

I think one thing that keeps me going is the fact that my brain steadily moves from one thing to another when it gets ahold of something. Like this celery. Here’s the path just as an example. Celery to me is a good food. For the most part I feel I am standing alone in a big field cheering for celery. I mean come on, celery is never at the top of your grocery list. To make it easier to gobble I envision taking that celery and chopping it up to put it in little single serve cocktail glasses adding cocktail sauce and then some really good little shrimp for a shrimp cocktail. Can you taste the sauce and the crustaceans? Now it’s the celery that brings it all home right? Brain shifts and… Of course you have to serve it with some crackers. Plain soda, buttery something or spicy sun dried tomato parmesan… Nope too much flavor would kill the shrimp let alone the celery. Oh that crispy crunch water filled celery. Get out of my head! That’s just one short train trip through my brain.

It’s happening all around you. Just watch someone’s face and you might see them as they travel their own little adventure park ride inside themselves. It’s quiet amazing. You do this too. It’s called day dreaming. Or more in line with my life it’s called not paying attention. I don’t think there is a cure or a pill. It’s just a thing and we should embrace the slip slide side of our brain. It’s what makes us unique individuals. Makes those around us want to stay around us for two reasons. Just to see what happens next and to enjoy the show.

Anyway. Did you know this? Celery uses more calories to chew and digest than it holds in those stalks of green crunch. Now! Finally a free food. A truly free food. Full of water. But the crackers. Carbs are not my friend. But the friend I sent the song to is my friend. Carbs bad, friends good. See it’s never ending and it’s called life. Get on board and enjoy the ride. And eat tons of celery. Who knows if you eat enough you just might disappear.

Trina lives in Eureka, Nevada. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or at itybytrina@yahoo.com Really!