Daily Prompt: Shake It Up

You’re 12 years old. It’s your birthday. Write for ten minutes on that memory. GO.

Photographers, artists, poets: show us RECKLESS.

Sky over Feldbrunnen

Were the dark days disappearing and the bright days arriving on my 12^th birthday? I cannot remember. It was 1958 and according to my Internet information US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back. I had no idea what the internet was talking about , but it seems to commemorate the fact that it was my birthday and this wonderwork of modern science was launched on this day. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment. It was intended to pass the moon but fell back to the earth after only reaching 107,269 kilometres. What a disappointment that must have been. Did this influence my future life?

I do not remember falling back to Earth at the time, I was too busy learning for the school, doing homework, and falling in love with Kenneth Allsop. You do not remember Kenneth Allsop? If you originate on the other side of the Pond or in another country somewhere in Europe you would not have seen this fascinating person on the British TV. He was a journalist and interviewer on a daily news programme called “Tonight”. He was also a book author, nature lover and a sort of Jack of All Trades. He did a memorable interview on the TV with the Beatles and he just appealed to me. I remember he wore striped shirts. They were fashion at the time. Of course I was 12 and he was 38 years old at the time, so our romance was never to be. Unfortunately he died at the age of 53.

As I only just discovered the fact that a lunar probe failed on its mission on this day, it probably had no negative influence on my birthday. The celebrations continued and neither mum nor dad realised the failure of this spacecraft. I seem to have survived this day in 1958, but I have no idea what I did, what I received for my birthday present and whether I had a party. At the age of twelve I had already realised that there was another sort of human (they had deeper voices) but as I was an only child and was visiting a girls only school, my discoveries at the time were somewhat restricted.

I probably had a cake. Mum used to buy them in the local Marks and Spencers store, strawberry frosties they were called I think. She always made sure the Christmas decorations were already hanging in the kitchen/living room/television room/room for everything. Our housing was somewhat limited in space. It was just the kitchen, mum and dad’s bedroom and my bedroom, although at that time we had acquired a room downstairs in the house as Grandad was older (around80 at that time) and decided just a one room bedsitter would do him. He left the kitchen to the cat. Mum cooked for him and Aunt Lil, across the street, cleaned for him. We were well organised domestically.

Otherwise no remarkable events or memories occur to me of that special day.

If you had asked about my 60^th birthday, or even 65^th birthday I could have supplied more information, but my 12^th? I sometimes do not even remember what I did yesterday morning, or five minutes ago, although I am perhaps exaggerating a little. After my golden oldie sleep today at lunch time I cleaned the windows, ate a strawberry yoghurt and decided to see what intelligent assignment the Daily Prompt had ready for me today. Luckily it said just ten minutes of writing, but I have been a little longer, as when I write the time runs away with me and if I cut it down, then it might be I lose the chance of my Pulitzer literature blog prize.
It is now time for a Tai Chi training session, nice and slowly says the guru on the DVD. Of course, we cannot risk any headlines in the local newspaper “Local woman breaks leg whilst practicing Tai Chi”.

Daily Prompt: Shake It Up

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