Growing up in the 50’s means that my childhood memories are filled with ideas, concepts and activities that seem totally anachronistic when viewed from today’s standpoint. As a minister of religion, my father had some very strict ideas about life and how it should be lived and we abided by them as he was the head of the house. I must say here and now that I don’t regret this for a moment as I believe that it was the strong beliefs of my father and my mother that gave me the moral framework that has shaped my life and made me the person that I am today. Even though dad passed away over 40 years ago, I still remember him with the greatest of affection, respect and thankfulness for the way he guided my life.
One of the aspects of living in the 50’s was that things were much more restricted than they are today in all sorts of ways. Sunday is a perfect example. Shops simply weren’t open on Sundays at all. Very little competitive sport was played on Sundays and a large proportion of the population (certainly much, much larger than today) spent Sunday at religious pursuits than do today. Sunday afternoons were often given over to visiting relatives and other activities that were of a less secular nature.
Our Sunday afternoons were usually spent thusly, and, part of that was listening to the radio, you remember radio? Well, on Sunday afternoon, several of the major radio networks had programming that was specifically directed towards those who were at home and whose afternoon was spent in less secular pursuits. I know I’m taking a while to lay the foundation here, but stick with me. I remember that one of the said radio stations ran a programme called “PSA” which stood for “Pleasant Sunday Afternoon.” Programming was musical, interspersed with semi-religious articles and live shows recorded either in local halls or in the station’s studios. Looking back on it now it seems so different to what we know today and, of course it was.
Well, today was a PSA for me and for my wife; let me run you through it. Mid morning we drove up to The Famous Robertson Pie Shop to meet with friends and to help one of my local motorcycle forum’s members who was running a cake stall in aid of the RSPCA. Kelly had cooked over 400 cupcakes and was selling them to raise money for her favourite charity. I’m more than happy to support a worthy cause so we made an appropriate donation as well as purchasing half a dozen of Kelly’s delicious-looking cupcakes. I have since heard that nearly all of the cakes sold, a spectacularly good effort from all concerned.
The morning was made much the more pleasant by being able to look over a very special Harley that was there. The bike has been built by a friend of a good buddy of mine and is, as he describes it, a “work in progress” Based on an XR1200, it features a Yamaha R6 front end and a raft load of trick, home-made bits that make it stop, handle and sound great. A truly memorable machine.
After socialising with many of my motorcycling buddies who had come up to the Pie Shop to enjoy the day and support the cause, we took off in a westerly direction, winding our way through a maze of backroads (the best sort) until we got to the Burrogorang National Park, west of Picton on the southern highlands. A great picnic area as well as a spectacular view over the Burrogorang River that is dammed by the Warragamba Dam further down the stream made it a very pleasant place to stop, break out the picnic lunch and enjoy the serenity.
We then meandered home through the backroads again, arriving home late, a little tired, but thoroughly happy at having put the day to such good use.
Pleasant Sunday Afternoon? I think so, thank you very much.