I just returned from two weeks in Mauritius. A devastatingly beautiful country, where we swam with wild Dolphins, saw humpback whales, clambered behind waterfalls, got up close and personal with an ostrich.
Plus we over indulged daily and delightfully on food and drink (with the all inclusive wrist band).
I had time.
Which was a HUGE problem, because time is not something I have much off in my rather hectic world.
But I had it in Mauritius, in between adventures.
So I read.
Fiction and non fiction, I picked up some work related books and popped them straight back down again.
To my horror, I stumbled across, and read a well written romance novel, but in the undertones of the book, concealed behind the love story was a back story about factory farming, and bastard global warming.
(All conveniently timed with surging temperatures in the UK causing fires left, right and center near my home town.)
It made me want to read more.
And more….
And suddenly, much to my own disgust, I find myself as a Vegetarian.
The last time I renounced meat was in my teens, and I think I did it more to piss off the parents over anything else. It took a hangover and a Roast Chicken when I was 21 to turn me back to being a carnivore; and I have happily lived that way in ignorance for 23 years.
Until a book flipped me back.
To being the most reluctant vegetarian in town.
I ate Tofu for tea – tasted like dry bread on Ryvita with a sprinkle of blandness on top. Nothing like a rare rump steak, coated in blue cheese, served with a side of wedges.
I’ve revisited Quorn – it is a still a no from me.
I have consumed so much green stuff my insides must be shining!
I’m not going to preach about why me and meat are no longer bedfellows, this is more a tale of the dangers of reading and educating oneself. Beware the holiday poolside reading or you could end up like me – with plastic vegan bacon for breakfast…..
Trying Quorn steak strips for tea tonight – I am keeping my expectations low!
And I am going back to reading work books – safety first!