Meeting place through the years

As I went through my Tai Chi breathing exercises this morning, it occurred to me that the little community hall where the class was taking place, aptly named the Minor Hall, had played a large part in my life over the years, right from the age of about 5. This means I have been using that hall for some 50 years, along with much of the Fish Hoek community.

I remember church fetes, such happy events with willing and enthusiastic helpers, with so many stalls that they spilled out into the sunny courtyard where you might even find a pony ride if you were very lucky. The local Dramatic Company staged excellent and very professional plays in the main hall of the Civic Centre, and I participated in piano eisteddfods there in my primary school days.

And how could I ever forget the first wedding I was allowed to attend? I still remember Bernard and Rose dancing the first dance - I was probably 6 at the time and I thought her dress was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

The years passed and our teenage years were a time of Friday night discos in the Minor Hall. As I practiced the steps of the Short Form, I could picture DJ Pygmy in the corner with his strobe lights and mirror ball and Radar Love by Golden Earring vibrating through my bones, even though this morning's meditational music was a far cry from that exciting rhythm.

More years passed, and now I sometimes make speeches in that room, at the Astronomy Club meetings where we discuss the wonders of the universe and share our experiences of practical astronomy. On a different evening the venue is transformed into a formal setting with clothed tables for the Toastmasters club which is yet another activity I will soon be participating in.

As I thought back over all the different times I have been in that place, perhaps standing on that very spot, it was as though my life passed before me. It is said that the only time is Now, and it certainly seemed as though a substantial portion of my existence had passed through that very room in the twinkling of an eye.