Home. Sad. New chapter. A long day’s travel from France made longer by my insistence we go by train. Andy says he’d let his EasyJet go toe to toe with my Aga in front of George Monbiot any day of the week but I’m not giving in. It’s twice the price and double the journey time and I’ll do it again next year for the effort of not contributing to Co2 emissions another drop as far as I can help it, which doesn’t include my Aga and already I can see him smirking and saying I see. Don’t we all make these choices, choose which hills to die on? I’ll give it up one day, of course I will, it’s obviously unsustainable, unjustifiable, I get it. Also its quiet, steady breathing, its body of few parts, its constant warmth give me comfort in ways only other Aga lovers will understand. He didn’t grow up with one. He hasn’t lived with one for thirty years. Yes, we’ve had the conversation about buying a new electric or converting it to wood-fuelled and no I won’t be doing either of those things. Electric ones are not the same, they’re like decaf coffee or fat-free milk; either do it properly or don’t do it at all. And wood-fuelled I don’t have time for. So it’s the real thing or nothing, my ancient oil-fuelled beast or that bloody electric range with super sleek induction hob that he adores that’s beautiful and efficient and can boil milk in ten seconds and drives me mad with its lack of knobs. Where’s the on switch? What if I want to keep something warm? How do I lean against it in winter? I come home to the Aga, I dry clothes on it, I know how to cook on it, I have all those Aga burns up my arms from taking things out of the oven. It brings me happiness. He doesn’t understand how sad I would be, not just a bit sad but sad like something missing. So I pay double the price and travel twice as long, I plant 80 hectares of new woodland, I let my garden run wild, I compost left overs, reuse silver foil, wash out freezer bags, nurture insects, reduce plastic packaging, rarely buy new clothes, mend and make do over and over again and I keep my Aga. George Monbiot’s welcome to get in touch.
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Keep it ! I love your Aga !!We must keep some things , it's a choice !
This one made me smile! Welcome home. Xx