As I sit here on a sunny, warmish Canberra morning, my laptop on my dining room table, pondering where the road of life might lead, US and Canadian astronauts are on the far side of the moon, the first time our kind have ventured there since 1972.
As I write the crew of Artemis II have just entered the communications blackout zone, 40 minutes of complete communications silence as the moon breaks the line-of-sight communication with earth. They are literally the most solitary group of humans in existence at this moment. Go well Artemis II and we will look forward to hearing from you again.
Of course, the moon shot this week has brought out the internet nutbags, the conspiracy theorists and moon landing deniers who can’t seem to properly process what is happening before their eyes. There is no doubt about human landings on the moon. The most documented event in human history simply couldn’t have been faked and it only takes about two clicks on the internet, and you can find real scientists telling you how it happened.
The United States is a country of contrasts, simultaneously showing the world its brilliance and ignorance on the world stage at the moment. Two sides of the same coin.
As for me it’s been an interesting few weeks. My Dad fell off a ladder at his investment property in Wangaratta and ended up having a fortnight in hospital down there with a cracked pelvis. He’s 88 and is a bit of worry trying to step up on ladders and do work that perhaps is beyond him now, but it is hard to tell him to stop and he doesn’t listen anyway.
My sister and I whizzed backwards and forwards, north and south on multiple occasions to support my mum who was alone in the unit in Wangaratta and to check on Dad’s progress as the doctors and nurses struggled to lasso him to a program of rehabilitation. We were worried of course about the volatile situation in the middle east. Ill-advised military action which has led to a stalemate and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz may well have caused problems with petrol supply and has definitely led to rather savage price increases.
Finally, we got him home on Easter Thursday. I went down to Wangaratta on the Tuesday and made sure I filled the tank when I got there. Dad was certainly ready to go on Wednesday, and it was good to get him out. We had another night at the unit and were home for Easter. He is going as well as we can expect. A bit sore and sorry for himself but you can’t keep a good man down. He is already talking of returning to Wangaratta in a month to finish his work(!). Hmmm, we’ll see about that.
At least it was a distraction for me. I am following the traditional path of grief that we all read about. I am ok for a while then a little sliver of memory, a thought or an action makes me feel silently for Linda and the pain and sadness envelope me again for a while. She will have been gone for two months tomorrow. We leave her behind as surely as the moon will fade from view for Artemis II as it returns to earth. But she won’t be forgotten.
The photo of Linda today is rom Easter Monday in 2019. We visited the old Duntroon Dairy near the military college that bears the same name. As Linda poses the Molonglo River flows behind her through the Jerrabomberra wetlands. To her left but out of view is Clare Holland House, where almost 7 years later she would take her last breath. Another memento which gives me pause and induces melancholy thoughts.
So, take care and keep going. Enjoy the day and your life as momentous things happen around us. Until next time.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 