New Years Day! The very start of 2018 and as half the population was still asleep, hung over or perhaps still lingering on in the celebrations of a year gone by and the new one – well barely started, I went walking on the foreshore just down the bay a bit from St Kilda.
The day was balmy and bay looked as attractive as it can – with many a folk diving into the wet to relieve themselves from the growing heat of the day. I sat at North Point for a pot of chai tea, having decided to leave Melbourne’s most loved beverage off my menu in 2018 – coffee.
Watching the people as they hustle to get a table and as they scoff down breakfast and coffees was a surreal backdrop to my contemplation of life’s simple truths I had been meditating on the night before – alcohol-free and just until around midnight, then a quick view of the ridiculous amount of money that was burned to light the night sky and then, well bedtime.
The result was, that apart from a lack of hangover symptoms, I was feeling rather clear, fresh and somewhat contemplative. So, as I finished my chai and water and had sufficiently watched the ongoing flood of new years diners, I got up, paid and went gently back along the foreshore toward Elwood beach. Not long had passed and I opted for one of the weathered park benches propped perfectly overlooking the water’s edge.
As I sat, the older couple came by and in some distinct eastern accent they discussed the relief such a seat brings, with the fragile older lady obvious requiring respite from walking. I offered by moving over to the far, so her partner, easily three time her size, could sit as well. It was instant, that we spoke and his thick accent inquired about my own.
“Serbia”, he said. And, “Australia is a big island if you know what I mean.” This was after I declared my own heritage as German. But that moment of awkward passed quickly as we spoke about other things and his still remaining passion for beekeeping, he had done for many years. Yes, like thick honey it oozed out of him, his passion for all things bees and the claim that Australian Tee Tree honey is more potent than Manuka from New Zealand. This was not the first time I had heard this.
Most interestingly was when he spoke of the time when bees would collect honey for specific trees, such as early in the morning and later in the day. That he loves getting up early and that bees are operating with natural cycles, not that humans tend to do that, not nowadays anyway.
Back in the day, yes, we were happy to have real honey when we got it, and if one season we did not get any, then we did the next. But today, well, it has to be all and everything at all times and at the best price. It is the very opposite to what seasonal eating is all about. And, come to bees, well they have suffered a lot, and continue to do so.
“There is no-one with real pure honey in Melbourne now,” he proclaims.
Between the diversions of Royal Jelly, Propolis and his many years on markets; another German he had met and was rather fond of, and more about bees and trees, he shared his key pearls of wisdom of life with me, sweet as honey, so here they are…
- Get up early, you be amazed what you get to see, witness and learn.
- Life goes by natural cycles, so accept what is, and be happy with that.
- You can’t force nature, it is not a machine.
- Do what you love, and you never work again.
- If you get bitten, it makes you feel alive.
- If you do what you love, you keep doing it after you retire. He does.
- Take time to appreciate the sun, the scent in the air and your company.
With that we looked at each other another time, nodded and shook hands again. “Great to meet you George”, and reaching over to his thinning lady, “Bye Stana, pleasure to meet you both”, I say as I get off the bench.
And, a pleasure it was. Our conversation lingered on in my head for the remainder of my walk, even the day and to this moment that I share it with you. His wisdom shall stick even longer…
Thank you, George, the Bee Keeper and Stana for making my first day of 2018 extra special. Happy New Year.