“Change is the only constant in life” goes the famous saying.
The world is changing rapidly. Mobile phones are now strapped to our wrists that double as email servers and location trackers.
Siri and Google can answer most questions for us and what did we do before the invention of the internet?
Autograph books are basically obsolete. So too are phone books. But I had a lovely reminder this week that some things remain the same in our lives.
I went to the Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show in Nambour and it made me stop and think some things have not changed. We just need to look for them.
I took much joy in showing my kids side show alley. Okay the prices have changed but they still have the clowns and the fishing game and the game where you shoot metal little milk cans over.
Except you cannot shoot the cans over as I am pretty sure they are weighed down in some dodgy trick set up to rip off kids and parents alike.
We ate dagwood dogs that my children kept calling ‘downward dogs’ and we watched the fireworks with a feeling of total satisfaction after spending the day roaming the show grounds in a fog of nostalgia laughing at all of the entertainment.
We still carry on with another tradition I was raised with the family roast on a Sunday night. There is something very cathartic about eating roast potatoes and meat covered in gravy that is good for the soul.
The duck fat does not hurt my soul either, although it may be hurting my cholesterol levels.
And my kids have just discovered fishing. Another past time from when I was a kid that is still a hugely popular thing to do on the weekends.
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I say if find it relaxing even though my husband and I spend the entire time baiting hooks and untangling wayward fishing lines. But there is something about simply throwing out a line as you sit and take in nature that is very hypnotic and makes me very happy.
We even fish at the same spot I would cast a line from over 45 years ago. Now that is a good feeling. Vegemite on toast is still in my life after 5 decades.
So are Milo, Frosty Fruits, and 2-minute noodles. I cannot drive past Yalata Pies on the way to the Gold Coast without stopping for a feast and reminiscing about my childhood.
We still play Floor is Lava in our household. I make jelly as a treat. I rub Vicks into my kid’s chests when they have colds.
Which may be a bad thing because we all know the pain of getting that stuff in your eyes by accident.
And here is a special treat for the kids this school holidays: simply make a hole in a wooden ruler and bang a pencil in it and you have the original fidget spinners before they were on the must have list. You are welcome.
