One of my overused phrases on the Race is “signs of the times,” usually said in a bit of a dramatic fashion, complete with a head shake and possibly a hand to the head in a faux fainting fashion. This phrase is usually uttered after something ridiculous has happened that is either unrecognized as out of place or, even worse, assumed as normal.
Today was one of those somewhat scary moments.
The Takamamas are, if you’ve been following my rarely updated blog, in Darwin, Australia- home of… well, I don’t know what, but at the very least there’s a sweet waterpark down the road with free admission because it’s government funded. It’s about a fifteen minute drive, so we figured it’d take us a forty five minutes to an hour to walk.
That’s in the blazing heat, for those of you unaware of the location of Darwin, approximately 18 degrees from the Equator, where you never really stop sweating so you shower a lot.
Annie, Rachael, Tabi and I decided to leave around lunch time.
And that wasn’t even our “signs of the times” moment.
We were a bit delayed in our departure, finally making it out around 2:30pm- prime roasting time. Taking nothing with us (to maximize sun exposure on our trek there), we headed out, with a decent pace that ended up taking just a few moments over an hour (we had to backtrack at one point to get the correct entrance). We were feeling a bit proud of ourselves for making it alive in the heat of the day when we started noticing some things:
There weren’t many cars in the parking lot.
There weren’t many screams from children.
There weren’t actually any children.
There was a sign that said, “Park closed Mondays and Tuesdays.”
Today happened to be Tuesday.
Shame!
Since it was so hot, we decided to lie down on the dry but still quite comfortable kiddie play area (with the squishy memory foam flooring) for a few minutes before walking back, and an hour later, we marched back into the Center, a little bit sweatier (and hopefully much tanner) than we had been when we left but otherwise none the worse for wear.
Now let’s take a minute to review.
We walked for an hour in the extreme heat to get to a water park that was closed. Upon discovery, we took a ten minute rest and went home.
Do you see what’s missing from this story?
Where’s the indignation? Where are the loud comments about how miserable our lives are, how dare they close on a Tuesday, who do they think they are?
Signs of the times, guys, signs of the times.
I’m not saying I’m coming back perfect, or that nothing will ever phase me. Just tonight I was offended at a comment made my an innocent(ly senile) gentleman. Definitely not perfect.
But hopefully I’m learning that there’s more to life than me, that the world doesn’t revolve around me, and that it’s not the end of the world if my plans get changed or fall through.
If it’s not about me, and there’s nothing that a temper tantrum will solve, then what’s the point?
For those of you interested, Annie, Elaina and I made it back the next day. It was so worth it. 🙂
