This morning a computer-generated message popped up on my Facebook feed. "Douglas", the message read, "we care about you and the memories you share here. We thought you'd like to look back on this post from 3 years ago." I wonder about the 'we' in that message. Who cares about me? My best friend, the Facebook algorythym.
Suspended below the message was a photograph Spike took from the balcony of the odd little room we rented for nearly three months while we waited to find, then move into, permanent accommodation; the house we bought in Gilmore and now call home. We were staying at the Capital Executive Apartment Hotel on Northbourne Avenue, North Canberra. I was at the start of my twenty months with the National Disability Insurance Agency and we had moved out of the apartment in Ashfield but not yet found our 1980's brick bungalow on the city's southern fringe. We were always amused by the sign outside the building offering the dubious attraction of the hotel's "Cuddle 'n' Bubble PACKAGE" Did we miss one of life's opportunities by not paying the extra? I think not.It had been a painfully hot start to the year. At times it was easier to stay put in that cramped space than venture outdoors. But that afternoon the Heavens opened to give us brief respite. The photograph does not do justice to the way the rain bounced off the road and pavement. Next day, as I recall, the heat returned and my ordinary life continued ... but sadly unremarked by my friends at Facebook.
