Have just listed to a podcast on Stoicism, so am feeling a bit more contemplative than I otherwise would.
After our late lunch yesterday, I just wanted a light dinner, so I ordered the seared tuna salad entree. When it finally arrived, it was an enormous hunk of tuna on a tiny shred of cabbage. I was dismayed by the sheer quantity of meat and almost felt physically ill. How spoiled am I? Simon talked me down, I ordered a small side salad, and we enjoyed the rest of our meal, with Simon nobly endeavouring to eat half my meal as well as his. Why am I telling this story? If I’d known about the lessons of the Stoics yesterday, I might have dealt with it better.
Also very unStoical was the night we spent, too hot and being eaten by mosquitoes. We have a plan tonight of having the fans and the aircon on full bore, so we shall see.
After breakfast I went snorkelling, which was pretty disappointing. It was windy and choppy and the water was very murky. But I had a better time than Simon, who spent two frustrating hours trying to fill up our rental with petrol, as well as trying to buy some zip ties to reattach the bumper. I’d much rather have been out in the water, even with crappy visibility. Imagining things being worse is another Stoic technique which I think I’m going to find very useful. After lunch I failed to have a nap and listened to my podcast instead.
And here I am! Our last night in Samoa, I’m sitting on the deck of our fale, looking out across the water to where the sun has just set, drinking a glass of house white. (Some nasty Australian sav, even cheaper at happy hour. I tried to order a rose but everyone just looked blankly at me. It’s a pink colour, I told the waiter as he searched through the chiller. No luck though). Life is good!