Houston, We Have a Problem

My grandfather passed away one summer about 30 years ago when I was just a little girl. My recollections of him are quite fuzzy, though there are 2 things that are inextricably linked to him in my mind. One is the smell of a pipe. He loved his pipe and when I get a hit of that sweet, acrid pipe smoke even today, I immediately think of him.



The second was his love for Star Trek - the original series mind you. He must have had a bad back, or maybe the TV was just installed too low in the family room of my grandparents' apartment (tricked out in 60's style built-ins), because I can distinctly remember the way he always lay flat on his back on the floor, with a pillow under his head, watching TV. I used to get down there with him and we'd watch the continuing voyages of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Bones, Scottie and the others as they boldly went where no man had gone before. I still have a fondness for the series and whenever I happen upon an episode when I home in the US, I am reminded of those early evenings shared with my Papa, as we lay there together on the floor.



These space cupcakes were made for Joseph, who like my son, is a bit of a space fanatic. His current favorite is the Apollo 11 mission when the US put a man on the moon. For those of you who follow my blog, you'll note my special connection with this infamous event. The Apollo 11 was launched into space by a Saturn V rocket (thus the significance of the Sturn cupcakes) but apparently Joseph has a slight preference for the Gemini craft which was the precursor to the Apollo project and that is what you see in small-scale (the decoration that looks like a white crayola crayon!).



One of the local Science museums has a special exhibition on the Apollo 11 mission going on right now. Joseph's mom safely transported these over for the party there so they could enjoy their cupcakes while checking that out. Glad they could be a part of this final frontier space mission!