My day started with a fast. Fasting is such bullshit!
It was so I could have an abdominal ultrasound at 9 am. Three months ago I had endured three months of nausea and finally went to a doctor about it. He referred me for an ultrasound. The nausea has since mostly resolved itself but I figured pictures of my insides are always good, so I kept the appointment.
Fasting! People do it! Right now it is Ramadan, even, and Muslims fast every day between sun-up and sundown. I might reach a higher plane if I did that or I might just kill everyone I know. Once again I am positively reminded of my former former boss, a Muslim, who not only fasted during Ramadan but was an Imam (preacher-type) at his mosque so performed two services per day PLUS had three kids PLUS worked full time AND never once ate me alive. He could have. He didn’t. To Former Former Boss! Cheers.
The dumbest thing is thinking about cheating on the fast. At 9 am someone is going to take a picture of my stomach with a camera. He will SEE if there’s anything in it. If I put water in it, so much as a drop, he will shake his head and cluck his tongue and make me come back in three more months! And yet, I’m standing in my kitchen this morning, empty-handed, thinking, “I could just have a sip of coffee?”
I was hungry, sure, but not overwhelmingly so. It was more that my routine was disrupted. If I’m not drinking coffee and eating cereal, what the HELL am I doing? EXISTENTIAL CRISIS! So I washed dishes.
My day ended with wine on my patio. Some neighbour was making a clapping noise and their baby was chortling. It was a good way to end.
I always thought that June/July/August would be the worst months for Ramadan, especially here where the sun sets around 10 and rises around 5. Ramadan would be much easier in the dead of winter when it’s dark by 4:30 in the afternoon.
Roman Catholics are supposed to choose one thing to fast from during Lent, which is only 40 days, and to also abstain from eating meat (fish is okay, for reasons I’ve never understood) on Fridays during that period, and I was always balls at that too. The folks who do the all-day fast during Ramadan – I’m in awe of them and their dedication, their commitment.