"..ah a wonderful lunch my friend, I'm going to miss seeing you on a regular basis soon..", nonsense I will always have time for you, especially how you have helped me get through this very cathartic experience.
1964 was a great year for us all, with my Father finally getting his own car; a Station Wagon to fit the family and weekdays when he worked, his tools of trade, the house was painted inside and out, we (the boys) got bunk beds (finally), carpet and he bought a new lawn mower for me, wonderful.
We were also able to go to Sydney, "...your family's first interstate holiday?", no our first holiday ever, which was a great success.
late in Form 3 our English Teacher, who we all liked, gave us a Questionnaire which would tell us where we should concentrate our future career efforts.
He talked with each student the next day, after he had calculated the "scoring" and when he came to me, he said, with a wry smile, that I should look at some sort of Office work, perhaps Finance/Accounting, which strangely seemed correct.
The class erupted in laughter as they knew that my hands skills were rather lacking. LOL
So, we bid farewell to 1964.
Oh, a bit of housekeeping in my after school jobs; I no longer sold newspapers (to old), but still mowed the lawn of one of the Newsagent Owners, still worked for the Chemist and was now also working, when I could, with my Father as the money was great and my collection of weird and wonderful books/magazines was getting larger, as was my Comic Collection.
We were the first Form 4 Students (80+ Students, which was under 50% of Total number of Form 3 Students). We were very proud of and hoped, given this number, a Form 6 could be approved by the Education Department.
However, the number of Students who passed Form 4 and moved into Form 5 dropped to just 15 in total, which was 9% of Students who began in Form 1 and 18% of Form 4 Students, so no Form 6.
I would now have to go to the High School if I wanted to Matriculate, which I did.
From 1965 and onwards my "thirst" for knowledge was very high and I started to go to the school library for Science, Literature, Philosophy, Painting, Sculpture, Buddhism, Meditation (nothing) and the Paranormal (nothing at all about this area nor UFO's; I wasn't surprised).
The local Library, which wasn't easy to get too, had a greater variety, so more joy there.
My life continued on down this very lonely, but for me necessary, road, which was getting much more distant than the rest of my family.
The additional education was giving me a "voice" that was starting to speak a different language than the rest of my family.
I also started to get more involved with my younger brother's friends as they accepted my "weirdness" and loved the rather strange music styles I played, except Leonard Cohen. Ha-ha "..oh not another Leonard Cohen Wine and Cheese night coming up...please give me strength...". Don't worry, not for the foreseeable future.
My music was the music of a rebellion, peace, questioning the "faceless men", who decide who will live and who will die in a futile war such as Vietnam. I was finally a person with an identifiable "box", a Hippy in all matters. I believe I still am today.
My first of only a few Séance's that I would be involved in occurred during my mid-teens.
A neighbour and friend of my brother rushed in with a couple of other people and I overheard them say they were going to have a Séance in our kitchen to which I first said no.
Then they were going to go somewhere else to hold it; given this I agreed as long as they did everything I said and there would be no deviation.
So, with the person they wished to contact and rules agreed the Séance commenced and went along, without any interlopers from the "Other Side", thanks' to the "Book In My Head", which is beginning to sound corny the older I get, but I had no other explanation at this point in my life.
Later in my teens the subject of conscription once again came up.
I had told my parents that if my "number" was drawn from the "Ballot" I would "burn my draft card" like so many were either doing or going to do.
My brother on the other hand said he would go to Vietnam if he was called-up.
I understood where my Father was coming from, but Vietnam was an internal fight between North and South and therefore a Civil War, which we should not be involved in.
As it turned out, my brother and I missed being chosen. A "lottery" I was glad we both did not "win". But others were picked and sent off to face the horror of war.
My musical tastes started to evolve and my parents and older brother called this music "strange" and didn't like it at all. I even purchased (very cheap) a record player to listen to my LP's.
My Mother and Father were not fans, so a friend from school, who was skilled in these areas, put a point in for a Headset, so I could listen to my music without upsetting my parents and older brother.
To make up for this I also purchased some LP's, with songs and music from our birthplace, which made them all very happy. I was also a big fan, especially one singer who was really great.
My Mother and Father were "over the moon" and thanked me very much.
I also put a "name" to how I have felt all these years, "and what was that.". I felt like I was a "passenger" in this body, which I would only say to one person, but not yet.
