"A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places." -Isabelle Eberhardt
"A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places." -Isabelle Eberhardt
What’s Barramundi got to do with it?
Aimee Geurts • Oct 15, 2019

My bff recently gifted me a free week to Green Chef , a meal delivery service. I’ve tried most of the meal delivery services and haven’t ordered one in quiet a while. I was falling deep into the single person pattern of eating cheddar cheese and turkey pepperoni for dinner every night and Green Chef saved me. However! This is not an advertisement for Green Chef, I promise. Although, I do love that you can choose keto or paleo plans, in addition to others. This post is all about the glorious fish called barramundi.

I choose a meal with barramundi having no idea what it was. A quick google search let me know it was a fish. Great news. AND THEN! I found all these fun facts about barramundi (I’ve picked only the most fun for this list):

  • Fact 3 The name b arramundi  is Aboriginal for “large-scaled silver fish.”
  • Fact 4 Virtually all barramundi are born male, then turn into females when they are three to four years old.  This means female barramundi can only be courted by younger men!
  • Fact 7 A Barramundi’s age is determined by counting growth rings on their scales (much like counting growth rings on a tree).
  • Fact 8 Large female barramundi can produce upwards of 32 million eggs in a season.
  • Fact 9 Barramundi have been recorded to be over 4 feet long and weighing over 90 lbs!
  • Fact 12 Barramundi spawn on the full moon, and their iridescent skin can be seen shimmering through the water during their ‘love dance’.

What delighted me the most was finding a folk tale all about barramundi!

Barramundi, A Love Story

An Aboriginal Folktale of the Fish of “Forbidden Love”

Long ago in the dream time there were no fish, so the people lived on animals, roots and berries. They were all content. That is, except for Boodi and Yalima; young lovers who wanted to marry. However, they were forbidden because their tribe required Yalima to marry an elder so she could take care of him. Determined to be together, Boodi and Yalima ran away, knowing that to go against the Elders was punishable by death.

They ran far and wide, but were relentlessly chased by the tribal elders.  Eventually, they came to the edge of the land where the water began, and they knew that in order to survive, they would have to stand their ground.

With the angry tribe descending upon them, they gathered wood and made as many spears as they could. But the tribesmen were too numerous, and soon the lover’s spears were all spent. Boodi turned to his beloved Yalima and said, “For us to be together, we must go into the sea to live.” And so they jumped off the cliff and descended into the water.

Boodi and Yalima are still there, in the shape of the Barramundi hiding amongst the mangroves.  And the spines on the fin of the barramundi are said to be the spears thrown at them by the tribe.

Those who believe in the folktale say barramundi has special aphrodisiac qualities. they also call it by its other name: ‘Passion Fish’.

*photo courtesy of Green Chef. My table does not look that nice.

*fun facts and folk tale courtesy of this website: https://www.thebetterfish.com/thecurrent/barramundi-fun-facts/

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What if the next adventure is to indulge in no adventure at all?

By Aimee Geurts • 20 Jan, 2023
In Great Circle Jaime says, “The compromise is that I’m living day to day without making any sweeping decisions.” I realize I have fallen into this way of thinking. Whispering to myself, everything is fine today. Although I do still enjoy imagining other lives, get caught up in the swell of possibility, for the first time in a long time I feel settled.  Jamie’s sister Marian says, “Is that compromise? It sounds a bit like procrastination. You don’t think you’ll go back to being how you were before, do you?” I know I won’t go back to being how I was before. I know that today. I’m not sure what I’ll know tomorrow. Reading articles about women realizing they are tired of working the corporate ladder and feel vindicated in my low-paying jobs with no benefits. When the farmer in Spain doesn’t reply to my emails about a room and board work agreement, when the Airbnb host in Greece offers me his camper van instead of his home, I decide it’s all too much and I give up. I’m not upset about it. I’m relieved. Instead, I make easy plans to see the Redwood Forest, right here in the good ol’ U. S. of A. I plan to stop in Medicine Bow, WY on my way from Denver to Bismarck next time I’m there. My next adventure is right around the corner instead of a nine-hour flight away. I make plans to make less plans. I stop looking for more jobs. The low-paying jobs I have now are quite fulfilling and they pay me enough to cover my health insurance and put a little aside. What they give me is time. Time to have lunch with my sister-in-law on her birthday. Time to take a 4-day weekend to see my new niece. Time to take a walk downtown on a Wednesday and bring Roxy a sandwich while she slings books at the low-paying bookstore where I no longer work. Time to read all the books in my house. Time to volunteer in the middle of the day. Call it compromise. Call it procrastination. I call it feeling settled.
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