How Are you?
This is such a strange question to ask a person – “How are you?”
This word ARE. How ARE you? The book tells me that ARE means “Second person singular and plural and first and third person plural present indicative of be”
Ok, that makes a lot of sense. About as clear as mud I think. And we have a lot of mud here at the moment. Especially down at the piglets shanty town. 
And I wonder why my international student farmers look at me – mystified – when I ask them how they are – How they be. To be. It is almost too personal to be asked. “How are you?”
Are you well? Well? Are you well? Don’t trip and fall down the well then, because well, for goodness sake, you will not be well at all then, if you fall down a well. Good grief.
GOOD GRIEF! Now what does that mean? How can grief be good? 
Txiki the Grumpy.
I love my international students but I have to admit a wee bit of relief to be finally back in my own English speaking kiwi head. They say English is hard to learn but I can think of harder languages. Part of the enjoyment of my visitors is a New Zealander teaching a French man how to speak English while living in America.
But How are You, really?
I’m good, thank you so very much for asking, a little anxious about Poppy who is close to farrowing but not too tired this week. Wondering when the buyer of the piglets will come before they sink right into the mud. Enjoying the rain on the last batch of new trees. The summer is over, I had good help but I and am enjoying these first few days of absolute quiet after saying good bye to my last summer farmer.
Today I begin my bi-annual colourful clean up diet. One has to every now and then. Celi’s colourful diet has no white food. No flour, no sugar, no rice, no potatoes. (Yes, bread is off the menu for some time now) Though of course all my cheeses are exempt though they are glossy white.
And 15,000 steps a day to begin.
My daughter is encouraging me to start slowly this year so this week it is no flour and no sugar. Just to begin.
And how are you? How do you BE? If you don’t mind me asking such a personal question – “How is your Being?”
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
45 Comments on “How Are you?”
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From an English perspective, I found, “What’s up,” to be a bit odd. As if I was being asked if something was wrong. It seemed a bit like going to see the doctor 🙂
Hmm – Yes – i see what you mean.. c
…but it works for Bugs Bunny 😉
And in South Africa, people say “howzit” From “how is it”.
Do not like the sound of that diet?
No sugar means no cake, no cookies or can you eat those if they are not white, as in a nice slice of dark chocolate cake?
Nope – no sugar –
Oh dear! And no bread!!!
I lost 20 pounds (last winter) eating no sugar, no cheese and no bread. I don’t even crave any of it anymore. Which is an amazing gift. Also, when I eat fruit, it tastes delicioius. So now when I want something sweet I eat a date or a fig or an apple….
Linda
Well done you – that is hard work! c
My usual answer is “SSDD” …
In Australia it’s “How are ya?” or “How ya goin?” On a work day I reckon I say it 1,000 times! 🙂
What a good food idea! I am in the process of cleaning up my diet so I might join you … Don’t know if I can exclude milk – Coffee is one of my main food groups and it must have milk! Wonder if I can enjoy it with an alternative … ?
once the milk is in the coffee, it’s not what any more so in my book that makes it exempt
lol I meant “white” … not “what”
Oh yes – I milk cows – to give up milk would be Mental! I love milk on my homemade muesli every morning..
Good morning. I am well, but not excited about outdoor chores this morning. We are having our first cool and blustery morning with rain. We cleaned up our diet years ago, and then we kicked it up a notch almost three years ago. We did away with grains and haven’t missed them at all. Our sweeteners come from natural sources but we’ve cut out desserts for the most part. Our meats come from wild and grassfed sources. Except for cheese, we gave up dairy too, and I haven’t missed that either. I have also jumped on the organic train and I look at labels a lot. I’m a big non-GMO fan. It isn’t an easy choice to go clean because it is work and dedication. Forrest and I haven’t been to a doctor in more than a decade. Fueling with healthy food makes for a great running, fine-tuned machine!
Hello miss c! Glad you are well. I’m gradually becoming wEllery…is that a real word?! Every day feEling stronger from my little op but still tired. But hapaypal and looking forward to being fully well and back in the saddle again! Good luck with the diet, I’m not cutting things out right now but eating lots of lovely fruit and veg to fill me with iron and vitamins.
Certainly confusing but consider the problems a pirate has.
“We” are fine thank you. The summer craziness is over and my baking schedule is much more relaxed. Debbie is done with the canning and the garden is getting bedded down for the winter. She is much happier now that sewing and knitting season have arrived. I’ll be filling the woodshed with firewood for the winter and doing a major reno in the house. Our home is over 100 years which means it’s time to replace major components. All fun 🙂
Good to know you are well. I think the ‘conventional’ and ‘good southern’ lady reply’ is “I’m Fine.” – So – I buck the system and I say “I am above ground and thankful!” when asked that question. Because that is the truth no matter How I really am. 🙂
I am so envious of all that mud, and apart from your blog, don’t think I’d recognise a cloud if I walked right into one 😦 I think the US Grand Canyon is attempting to relocate to SA, the cracks in my hard dry ground beginning to look life threatening. I shouldn’t really complain I still have water coming out of my taps, but our water restrictions have been stepped up a notch and the suppliers are threatening us with enforced water cut-offs. Somebody please do a rain dance for us. Laura
I’ll do one for you Laura! When it starts to rain here tomorrow I’ll make sure I look the rain god right in the eye and tell her to move on over that ocean to SA!
Now then, ‘ow do? All reet here!
I feel sorry for the few English conversation students that I have. Mind you I’m told that English is an easy language to learn, it’s the grammar that’s difficult.
Our clean up diet is what ever is left in the field, so pumpkins and chilli’s at the moment!
Yes! I am on kale, butternuts, sweet potatoes, pears and walnuts. I just found some more raspberries too so that was a bonus colour!
The worst part of “How are you?” (at least to me) is that people don’t really want to know the answer to the question. I do hope that if we ask Poppy how she is that she is doing well and has a happy farrowing.
Alright Celi ? Ohh does your no sugar mean no wine? 😳
Yes – the beer is cut out already and I have allowed myself a glass of wine with dinner until week three when I go alcohol free. Drinking no alcohol is hard when there is a drinker in the house, but imagine how much I can save to my travel account!
“How are you?” is a question I’ve come to dislike. Most people ask it out of habit, not because they truly want an honest answer. At least that’s what I’ve experienced. I don’t ask that question unless I really want to know, “How are you?”
This was fun to read. Most Americans have taken the language and twisted it all around to suit their needs. We make up words and add them to our individual dictionaries. I always answer the ridiculous question of how am I with good or wonderful because no one really wants the answer you could truthfully give. Sometimes if I know someone well enough to play, I’ll say “above ground” 🙂 Language is difficult in any language. I was brought up bilingual and now master neither. 😦 I hope your piglets get picked up soon because if our rain comes your way, get your waders on.
I don’t know, when you start talking to yourself, you want to get all healthy. Can’t be good. Playing with words is fun, so I guess a colourful diet would trigger colourful language when it cuts out the wine and chocolate! Keep the piglets moving or they will become mired down. Good luck with your fall/Fall projects.
A few of my favorite answers:
“Fine as frog’s hair”
“Vertical and taking nourishment as opposed to horizontal at room temp”
“Able to complain” (my father always said this)
“Better than I deserve by the grace of God”
As with others I don’t necessarily think people want a true answer to that question. In reality, I am doing okay – miss my brother and my friend but the grief is less overwhelming now.
Love your picture of Txiki – she does look rather grumpy — funny how I can still see that tiny calf in my mind’s eye.
I mean it when I say it – I am sure some other people must as well.. Able to Complain!! excellent – c
a colorful diet sounds like my kind of diet! Is chocolate a good color? Have a super lovely day!
Chocolate is a BAD colour – Naughty.. It is just for a little while – just the season.. c
It’s not the ‘white’ as in milk or cauliflower that I avoid…..its the ‘white CARBS’ . I eat brown rice, sweet potatoes and yams, substitute Agave syrup for sugar.
Interesting discussion!!
I would love some yams – I have not had those since I was in New Zealand.. c
My answer to how are you usually is ” I’m alive” . As soon as I’m returning home, which is tomorrow , I’m cutting out all the whites most of the time.
Leaving sugar and flour out for a little while is a great way to re-balance your system. Once you get past the cravings.. c
How ya going? Good, thanks! Less personal than How are you, I always feel, since it’s enquiring about the progress of my life, day, or plans. And you can exchange “Good, thanks” with “Yeah, good… ” if it’s not going briliiantly, or “Shithouse, but thanks for asking” if it’s totally pants. Australian can be quite nuanced!
Couldn’t help but think, all the way through, how delighted Our Viv would have been with this post. Glad you be well!
Yes she would have had a few words to say about it that is for sure. She comes to my mind often too – especially when I struggle with a comma, or an apostrophe. c
And then there’s this: Don’t tell your friends about your indigestion/ “How are you’s” a greeting, not a question. I finally went to the doc after being sick for 8 days. Bronchitis. On antibiotics and anticipate returning to normal. When folks ask me how I am, I respond with a grade, i.e. B plus, etc. Much love, Your Gayle
In Australia ‘how are you’,at least to me, is a general greeting to which it oft IS hard to find an answer – my friends and others around are very used to ‘I won’t bore you, but thanks for asking !’ or ‘don’t ask – I just might tell’, both hopefully with a big smile whatever . . . Well, Celi’s diet’ tends to be mine all year and it foes not bear the name ‘diet’ of which I disapprove – no white flour and IKg raw sugar lasts two years 🙂 ! Eat a moderate amount of bread but all full of seeds and grains. Brown rice and sweet potatoes: small ordinary ones at times, but with skins on and steamed . . . suits me . . . !!!
Well. I be fine. Working much much much too hard so I WAS not happy enough, good enough, free enough to answer in a timely fashion. So here I am late, telling you that am better than before. Love the way your brain works and works without stopping. It be a glorious brain.
Even the Zulu greeting, which makes more sense, has a peculiarity. ‘S’bona’ (sub-awn-uh) is the short form of Siawubona, which takes the meaning of ‘I praise or salute you’. Only, it actually uses the royal ‘si’ (we) instead of ‘ngi’ (I) — thus, ‘We you praise’.
Even the formal, ‘How do you do’ seems to invite ‘How do I do what?’
I think ‘Hi’ has become a satisfactory, general, meaningless, greeting.
I hate the ‘I am good.’ response. I have not requested a report on virtue or behaviour!
My being is tangled and tense. Crunchy and crickety and off kilter. Tired and tuckered and oscillating between full to bursting with love and joy to anxiously battening down mental hatches.
I believe French and Spanish both do a variant of “what’s happening?”
Take care now, darling girl
I am doing well up here Celi. Just coming in from a full day out doing fix ups on the barns, building a guinea hen coop and cleaning up the paddocks. I love the fresh air of our fall. I am the ‘good kind of tired’ tonight! Made us decide we’d earned a good sized serving of apple crisp after dinner. No diets going on here today!
Loved it!
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