To Boldly Go

Friday, Sept. 08, 2006 - 3:37 a.m.

Yesterday afternoon and evening, I think I just barely skirted the edges of having a migraine.

The pain was there, but I didn't get the gastric stasis and the paralysis.

John worked on my neck, and I was finally able to sleep between about nine pm and 12:30 am.

---

Today is Khaki Friday in Australia, in honor of Steve Irwin.

If you have anything khaki colored, please wear it today if you are reading this in time to do so. I'm going to.

---

One day in early June of 1969, my family made a relatively rare sojourn out into the country to see Aunt Mary and Uncle Marvin and their teenage son, Uncle David. Mom was just a little more than five months gone with my brother Jon and was getting to the point where she really didn't like to go outside unitl the sun was down, because it was simply too hot for her to do anything else.

I can remember the scent of Aunt Mary's styling lotion, and I can also recall Uncle Marvin's pipe tobacco. We visited and the adults played a version of dominoes called -- believe it or not -- 42.

Uncle David wasn't interested in dominoes, so he made a valiant effort and entertained me. He taught me how to play Go Fish, and he read to me, and then he bundled me up on their couch with an afghan and let me sleep for a little while. Finally, he reached over and woke me up, and turned on the television. "Hey, kiddo!" he said. "Star Trek's comin' on!"

So, at a little over four years of age, I saw my first Star Trek episode. By coincidence, it was the final first run episode of the series -- gods help us all, "The Turnabout Intruder" -- but I very vividly remember the credits, and the eerie sound during the personality transfer. Uncle David was mesmerized.

After the episode was over, and I guess I had conked out on their couch for awhile, the next thing I remember was the Tonight Show theme, and all of the grownups gathering up to leave. I recall my parents being especially tender with their goodbyes to Uncle David.

In the next few weeks as my mother grew larger and the days grew longer, I came to understand that Uncle David had gone somewhere called 'Veet Nom'.

---

About a month after Uncle David's exodus, I can recall my parents waking me up to see the 'Aster Nots' when they landed on the moon. Nothing else of personal or statistical significance occured until my brother came home from the hospital at the beginning of the second week of October that year. And after that, there was school and life, and my first hamster, and my stupid little brother, and so on. For Christmas, Mom sent Uncle David a little plastic tree with a bunch of decorations, and he said it was the only one within miles, and that jeeploads of soldiers from other posts were coming to see his tree. For Christmas, Uncle David sent us some beautiful glittery dolls from Thailand, with silks and the elaborate headgear and the hyperextended fingers, all gracefully posed.

I still have them.

---

Star Trek has meant a lot of things to a lot of people, and I never actually saw anything other than the one first-run episode -- but the reruns have provided solace and pleasure and an oasis of intelligence in my own universe, and I will be forever grateful. No matter what else was going on, I could always find a rerun of Star Trek somewhere to enjoy.

So there you go.

Have a nice Friday.

---

By the way -- Uncle David got home just fine.

---

what you missed - what's next - leave a note
first post - cast page - diaryrings - top ten

THE LEGAL STUFF: All content on this site that was created by me is copyright 2003-infinity by Brin Marie McLaughlin. Steal my stuff and I'll squash you like a bug. All incoming email or any other form of communication with me is subject to publication or other distribution by me in whole or in part at my sole discretion. This diary features the sole opinions and experiences of one person, namely me, the person who is paying for this space. In the interest of safety and accountability, no anonymous input will ever be allowed here, ever, for any reason in the entire history of ever. Whenever there is a comments section appearing in this diary, it's to be considered part of my paid presence on the web, and shall be used by my readership to supplement the things I have written here with relevant information in a polite manner. Comments that do not fall in that category are subject to deletion at my whim. Your visit to my diary along with your use of my comments section constitutes the understanding of this statement. Anything else on these pages including any comments belongs to whoever created it. All external links are current as of the date of the entry in which they are first featured, but at no other time. News excerpts used here are for educational purposes and are permitted under the Fair Use Doctrine. Hold hands when you cross the street, and play nice.