We spent last weekend with close friends who were visiting Brisbane. It was great to catch up and just hang out.

The weeks leading up to this had been very challenging and personally trying with my Mum passing away, within the same week we hosted a lovely young English couple – which was a pleasure having had their family look after ours in past years. 

Then I caught the flu, Mum’s cremation, then Deb’s Dad ending up in hospital having also caught the flu –  then here we were in Brisbane, feeling a little drained and just wanting to step off for a bit; only to take the phone call that Deb’s Mum was now on her way to hospital in an ambulance. Our friends had also recently had a family loss.

Wow – what a fortnight. 

Through all of this we had a great time in Brisbane. We visited the NASA exhibition fascinated by the Apollo projects and immersing ourselves in the achievements of the trail blazing heroes of that time – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and the later Space Shuttle astronauts – some tragically never returning through catastrophic events that lead to the demise of the shuttle program.

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It was a real trip down memory lane, back to my boyhood days. I remember the excitement of the Apollo missions, lying on Mum and Dad’s lounge room floor, glued to our black and white television watching the next Apollo event. 

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six the Command Centre would declare to the world before the magical words. “WE HAVE LIFT OFF” sounded through the television’s little speaker. I was mesmerised by the intensity of the explosive and unimaginable power thrusting the astronauts into another world beyond the stars. It didn’t matter that it was on a 24 inch black and white screen. It was an adventure fitting of any boyhood dream. 

After the NASA exhibition we drank refreshingly cold beer on tap, laughed at ourselves, ate great food and wandered through the local weekend markets. While the others strolled off, I stopped to watch an Artist draw caricature portraits of anyone who was up for it. 

Yep – I’m in, so I sat and let Dave the Artist draw what I guess can only be described as a cartoon character based on Yours Truly. Others gathered to watch as the portrait progressed or to just have a giggle, somewhat fascinated by the artist’s skills and just maybe my bravery in putting myself out to the general public even if it was just a form of entertainment. I remained completely oblivious to what was unravelling before the small crowd.

As I sat, I considered how seriously we all take our lives. Yes there is a definite aspect to where we need to be engaged and focused. But do we laugh at ourselves often enough, do we allow others to have a joke in good spirits at our own expense without being offended. Are we so tightly wound that as much as we are intrigued by the thought of ourselves being portrayed as a cartoon character, is there an innate fear of being exposed in a strange yet fun way.     

Rather we post pictures of how joyous and perfect our lives are on social media. Yet more often than not these idyllic pictures couldn’t be further from the truth. 

At some point in our lives we lose that childish excitement, the wonderment and joy seen in a young boy or girl’s eyes as they watch their heroes risk all in going to the moon or where anything is possible. Maybe that’s the unavoidable toll we pay, as we progress through our lives. We let it all become too serious and overlook the simple joys staring straight at us.

Then suddenly my Mission Control (Dave the artist) prepared me for re-entry.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six – are you ready ?

Dave turned his latest works towards me! I laughed at how I was portrayed, not what I expected but what did I actually expect?

Perception is everything.

That’s great Dave I said, I thanked him and I laughed again at myself – this time out loud – that was great fun!

Just as Deb and our great friends found me – laughing they said “We should of known you’d be here.”

As always, with gratitude, thanks for reading – RD

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