Life away from home

 As you get older things change. Not right away you understand but in a creep-up-on-you kind of a way until one day something happens that makes you realise that things, that is you, have moved on. 

I once heard the actor Timothy Spall being interviewed post a big cancer scare which he'd recovered from after plenty of unpleasant treatment. He said that you knew when things were normal again when, on coming home from the hospital all the little things started to bother you again.

It's a lot like that when you are away from home with a ship on deployment. When you get home it's as though someone has pressed your personal reset button as all the usual tings don't bother you as much. Then you acclimatize once more and things go back to normal, much in the way Timothy Spall described.

We're now just over halfway through our time away here in Singapore and thoughts of returning home have bubbled to the surface once more. Being away doesn't become any easier the older you become - It merely changes the things that you miss and start to value more strongly because they aren't there/available.

I'm not sure when this change in me happened but it has. Now the idea of sitting on the porch in the afternoon sunshine with Emma and the dogs with a glass of wine/G+T/Beer seems to be the best thing in the world.

Talking of beer here's another picture from our Tiger Brewery tour the other day.


Some of the Tiger Brewery memorabilia

And here is another picture of the Marina Bay Sands hotel which is now an iconic part of the Singapore skyline.



I'm lucky enough to be going back to a role in the HQ when we get home. On the one hand it'll mark the end of my seagoing career however it'll also signify a new chapter, bringing with it promotion and going to the next level.

I will miss elements of being deployed with a ship however it's now something that I'll look upon with fondness and then focus on what is next.

All part of middle age? Perhaps but I reckon it's best to try and see the good side even if that's sometimes hard to do.

Comments

  1. Geoff James20 September 2021 at 14:52

    Great post Lee and completely agree. Life is about never having to say "If only...." and actually making things happen. I'd say that you're doing that pretty darned well :-) .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee Blackburn21 September 2021 at 16:05

      Hi Geoff - When I get back home I'll be enjoying the little things all the more. Going this long without bike riding really sucks!

      I spoke to a lady I was at high school with the other day. It was the first time we had spoken for 31 years... She now lives in Perth, WA and it was great to talk again. It didn't feel like 31 years ago since we'd finished high school in sunny South Africa. I'm fairly sure that's where this philosophical streak is coming from at the moment.

      Delete
  2. Ian L25 September 2021 at 09:10

    I first read this at about 7 am, and was a little taken aback at so much philosophy at that time in the morning! But yes, agree entirely and one's outlook on life continues to change as one grows older; I can resonate with many of the comments that my dad made at my age. Not least "don't grow old".....
    Anyway Lee congratulations on the scrambled egg, shame that your sea time ends with promotion, although perhaps that is something you are now happy to accept. The extra pay could mean a bigger bike fleet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee Blackburn27 September 2021 at 03:59

      Thanks Ian - Yes it is a shame but I think I'm now ready to move on. Being away with a ship, whether at sea or alongside doing maintenance, is great in some ways but not in others. As for the bigger bike fleet... I've now run out of space so one or two are going to have to make way before that!

      Delete

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