I am neither stardust nor golden but some mornings I do wake up feeling like billion year old carbon; which reminds me – I may share the same DNA as my Dad but in many ways we were complete opposites. He was of an entirely different hue; when he retired he became passionate about stamp collecting, if such a thing be possible – when I left full-time employment (spot the difference) I bought a small Suzuki, eventually acquired my Category A licence and then immediately upgraded to a Ducati. I can hear him now – “It is time you grew up my lad” – he wasn’t the last to say that either. I remain defiantly juvenile as my wiser and older children will testify.
My hue? – for the most part I dress down in clothes designed to look well-worn and lived-in, predominantly blacks and greys. To compensate, my prized ‘toys’ have a silver and golden hue – not bling, just tasteful and very quick :-). This is the Imola 72 bodykit version of the Ducati 696+ which has the capacity to delight and terrify in equal measure:
Henpecked, my Dad may have settled too easily into a retired life but as I have written elsewhere, I have admired no one else more. He is still around – I see him in the texture of the skin on the back of my hand; I hear him when I rant at the latest idiocy on television; I sense him in the room when I rest my elbows on the table, hands clasped in contemplation above a dinner plate – “get those elbows off the table Robin – but Mum, Dad’s doing it!”.
This is Dad as a young boy, fooling around in front of the camera – on the left with his Mum and on the right with an inner tube on the beach:
Spot the similarities – this is yours truly, also ‘gurning’ in front of the camera, an old lorry inner tube lying on the sand:
It was a habit I found hard to break – chastised for “ruining the photographs“, in retrospect I think a guest appearance by the junior Quasimodo changes the hue of an otherwise dull family photo :-). (and that is the Kodak Brownie 127 around my neck)
northumbrian : light 
Very entertaining and warm post Robin. Keep the youthful attitude and keep embarrassing all but yourself. MM 😀
Thanks Mick – I think I can be relied on, I am beyond salvation 🙂
That is reassuring. MM 👍
Well, I don’t think I ever grew up, either… I think we need to keep the inner child alive, keeps us sane in mad world. 🙂
Quite right Sue – it is good to know we are not alone 🙂
🙂
Well I wanted to say something; but those above have said it already. Cheers, harrie.
Thanks Harrie
Nice of you to let us in on your inner workings. Love your contributions to the family pix.
Needless to say, there are more but you can have too much of a good thing 🙂
Hahaha. i love it. Who are the real party poopers in the photo?
Glad you appreciate this and well done 🙂 – that is the interesting question – left to right in the last photo – my sister (with distinctly weird hair – a strange phase), my mum, aunt Bet & uncle Ed, then my dad. They are not really related just family friends brought together by the bombs that fell on Manchester (another story). I loved my aunt Bet to bits – a really soft place to fall…and still with us. The boy behind the camera is Brian (wrapped in a towel in the first picture) – he did well – http://tinyurl.com/o3cjrql
Oh my, your family may be related to my son. 🙂
Everything and anything is possible 🙂
Everything is already said here. 🙂
Thanks for sharing stories and wonderful images.
Thanks Malin – My sister will consider that I, in particular, have said quite enough already 🙂 Her hair has improved somewhat over the years 😉
It was worth coming along just for the song 🙂 I can’t pretend to be enamoured of the Ducati (horrors! I realise I just went down in your estimation 😦 ) but it’s wonderfully shiny.
In appreciate it is an acquired taste Jo – it took me many years but now I am obsessed 🙂
What a sentence this is!! “… I see him in the texture of the skin on the back of my hand …” Touching post.
Many thanks, it is like seeing a ghost.
You’re welcome. May it be seeing a ghost in a good way.