by Denise Ogilvie
When you travel round this wide brown land you’ll see us on the side of the road. When we’ve had enough of driving it’s time to take a break, unpack the thermos, pull lazily into the next roadside stop. Just like the pioneers of the Wild West, we pull our vehicles into a circle. Luckily there’s no Indians attacking today. Just the huge road trains burning noisily down the highway. The drivers don’t have time to join the circle. They’re to busy meeting deadlines.
At the end of a long day we pull into the caravan park, set up the chairs, open the eskie and pluck out a bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc and a six pack of coldies. The sound of laughter comes floating from behind the caravans. So this was where they hangout. 5.00pm, drinks under the big shade tree. They come from all over the park. Carrying chairs, glasses and bottles. It‘s time for a cold drink, the evening ritual. Naturally we join them.
We are the baby boomers, children of the 60’s – peace, love and all that stuff. Now we’re spending the kid’s inheritance. The one we worked so hard for while we raised those kids. They’ve all have good jobs now as a result of the university education we worked so hard to give them. Finally it’s our turn.
The kids think we’re selfish, ageing hippies. Maybe we were hippies once before we put our lives on hold to raise our families. Some say we are looking for our lost youth. In reality we’re just picking up where we left off thirty-five years ago. Years of climbing the career ladder, raising families, paying the mortgage, being responsible parents, respectable role models for the kids. After all, we didn’t want the kids to take up alcohol or drugs.
Now the kids are back at home being respectable, climbing the career ladder, raising families, paying the mortgage. They’ve become the role models. We don’t have to set an example for anyone.
Our bodies are now our temples. Wine – which ones don’t upset our stomachs? Organic wine versus mass-produced? We have big decisions to make these days.
Thirty-five years ago we ended the Vietnam War. Now we have time to work on solving the crisis in the Middle East and are getting a head start on the challenge of Global Warming. We may not smoke much pot anymore, but that hasn’t stopped us from having fun while we continue to solve the problems of the world. It’s much easier to save the world over a nice drink and a good cheese, the Stones and Hendrix playing in the background.
We laugh about the money the kids are spending on the grandchildren with their fancy private schools. No wonder they have to work so hard.
Thursday comes round again – pension day. Caravan parks around the country empty out. The super cheque has gone into the bank. Time to fill the tank and head off down the road to some inviting new paradise.
© Denise Ogilvie 2010
This entry was posted by Denise Ogilvie on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Travellers' Tales.
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