Who Moved My Cheese?

What would I do without cheese? I love all different sorts of cheese, so it’s a real pity that it has to be limited in my diet, as I’m supposed to be following a low-fat diet in order to counter high cholesterol.

My first memory of cheese is of Kraft Cheddar. You know the one that comes in a box and is NOT found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket, but on the normal grocery shelves. I think it’s in with the jams and spreads, but I don’t think I’ve eaten it since I left home, so I’m not sure. Actually, I’m not even sure it’s cheese, is it? We used to eat it grated and mixed up with tomato sauce – yum!

I like to think that my tastes have matured since then. My snack of choice when I was going to university was cheese, vegemite and pickled onions on Ryvita. I was living in on-campus accommodation where the food was provided in the dining room, so you can imagine how bad that food was if I was snacking on that concoction!

I was at Macquarie Uni recently for the first time in 30 years
this part of the university hasn't changed

When I moved into self-catering accommodation with friends, we branched out, and discovered camembert and brie. I also took a liking to some of the hard cheeses, as long as they were not too strong.

When I travelled overseas, I encountered goat’s cheese. We stopped at a farm somewhere in France, and they gave us some to taste. We liked it so much we even bought some from them. Even when we discovered that the black stuff on the outside of it was ash, we still liked it.

I’ve graduated to liking the stronger cheeses. I eat cheeses that I didn’t know existed when I was first out in the wide world fending for myself – fetta, haloumi, real cheddar, parmesan (I still think it smells like vomit). But I still can’t eat blue cheese. I’ve no idea why.

this part of Macquarie Uni has definitely changed
for the better!

Now, I have to limit my consumption of all those types of cheeses – about the only ones I’m allowed to eat a lot of are ricotta and cottage cheese. Such a pity they are so bland! How much I’ve changed since my days eating Kraft Cheddar!

So I have no problems with my changing cheese preferences. I’ve also had no problems adapting to the change of moving to Bathurst. I’ve had little hiccups with the change of moving from being a working person to being a retired person, but they are well and truly over now, so no problems there.

But there are some areas where I struggle with change.

For example, I hate some of the changes that come with getting older. It takes me longer to recover from strenuous exercise. I’m more likely to forget where I parked the car when I go to the shopping centre. It’s no longer a case of my mother looking after me, but of me looking after my mother.

Maggie was very cautious when  her scratching pole first
appeared - but I think she has adapted

Just when I think things have settled down, something will change again! Change is inevitable, though, so I can’t ignore it and hope it will go away. I do, however, have choices. I can look at the options and choose what I will do. I can still do the strenuous exercise, and be grateful that I am retired and have the time to recover at my own pace. I can always park the car in the same general place at the shopping centre, or park it in all different sorts of places and use it as a memory challenge. I can accept that my mother needs my help, and do whatever I can to make her life better.

My life keeps on changing. Sometimes I like it that it has changed. Other times it really cheeses me off (pun intended). I just have to keep remembering that I have adapted before, and I will adapt again. Retiring doesn’t mean that things will stay the same forever.

Credit needs to be given here to the book Who Moved My Cheese?