w/e 16 August
Times have indeed changed. I have just read a Facebook comment that ‘My little girl is wanting a birthday party for her 6th birthday but doesn’t want to go to the local sports centre as she’s been to so many there already.’ Oh my word, my friends and I at that age only had small parties, tea parties that is with sandwiches and a few games, at our homes. One friend had a fancy-dress party – that was amazing as it was so unusual. My 21st birthday party was indeed a special event, although still held at home. On the other hand, my 18th (this was just coming in at the time) involved a group of friends going out to a nightclub for dinner and a show. That was posh and grown up!
Some things, however, do not change. The attraction of space to young girls remains strong. I am happy to report that following a talk I gave at Seaton Library yesterday, an 8 year old girl came to me with lots of questions about space and who shared a pack of stickers with me as a thank you. She wants to study space. There is hope. I made her laugh when I remarked that I was about her age at the time of the first Moon landings and loved all things spacey! Then felt really sad that no one had landed on the Moon since 1972. Using hoola hoops to explain the motion of the Moon around the Earth went down really well, with many saying how they now understood why the Moon was high in the sky at times.
And then I read the newspaper. An article described a recent mission to the Moon’s dark side. Oh dear!
Karen Hedges 