Moon, Stars and Beyond   A Chronicle of Fact, Fiction and Fantasy

Farewell, Friend…

I heard he had gone into the hospital, but who’d ever think that Spock would die?  That’s as unfathomable as space and time itself!

Spock…dead?

People of a certain age, such as myself, count their youthful years against the number of Star Trek episodes they identify with.  I was quite young when they originally aired, but I remember seeing them.  Later, in the 1970s, Mom always turned the show on after dinner.  And there he was, Spock, spouting his quiet but firm logic against the perpetually angered and impulsive Kirk.  He had a better grip on things, from his unique perspective.  Half human, half Vulcan, he read into Earthly beings with insight, yet allowed his mature, tamer side to pump out the decisions that allowed the Enterprise to stay afloat in space.

So why wasn’t he the captain, you ask?

No swagger value, I’m afraid.  A quiet, contemplative fellow, Spock chose to pursue feats of the brain instead of the brawn.  And that’s fine, really.  There’s too many jocks out there, and every braniac, nerd, geek and other reject embraced Spock with a passion, because it gave them a great model to follow.  No, you don’t have to be a football player or a cheerleader – the universe needs thinkers, too!

In middle and high school, the same geeky types that were into Star Trek were also into such shows as Dr. Who and Space: 1999.   Even Monte Python’s Flying Circus.  We were the group that got all the strangeness because we didn’t have to worry about what people thought of us – they already thought we were weird.  Our imaginations set us free, launching us into the stratosphere with odd concepts convincingly plausible.  I got a bit stuck on wondering just exactly where in the universe the Enterprise was located, or headed.  How come they never ran out of gas?  Or water?  Or food?  Where did they get their uniforms from?  Who did the laundry?  How did they maintain personal hygiene?  I figured a ship that size had to have an awfully large cargo bay.  Maybe they did purloin provisions from populated planets.

My college friend Linda probably had some insight into these issues.  She devoted her life (at that point, anyway) to two things: music and Star Trek.  She memorized each episode, completely down to the credits.  She possessed an actual female uniform and wore it when the occasion demanded it.  Without hesitation she could name any tiny bit of trivia one threw at her, often showing down many a Star Trek scholar – which she proudly was – often at the price of a beer.

Still, this iconic sci-fi show would be nothing without its iconic star.  Spock beckoned us to live long and prosper, which he surely did.  He leaves us to enjoy the episodes which made him famous and live long in our hearts forever.