Spinning Around

I remember first seeing a Rubik cube at school. Summer 1981, i was 12 and a couple of classmates came in with these vivid coloured magic puzzles that seemed to move all ways. I was mesmerized by the clicking ratchet noise. I watched as they twisted it, turned it and the mosaics kept changing each move.

I got one for Christmas and by then amost everyone was obsessed. TV news reports from across the world were all in a frenzy over this puzzle. I knew people who could complete one side. I think one of our teachers managed two sides.

Someone in our class came in one morning claiming he had done it and every side was complete. When he couldn’t do it again he soon confessed to physically dismantling it and rebuilding it piece by piece. That way or peeling the stickers off was another solution.

One night my dad came home from work saying one of his colleagues could do it. The following week dad took the cube to work and each night after tea we sat together. He would show me what he had been taught that day. It was all done in stages. By the end of the week my dad had completed the Rubik cube! We wrote detailed notes and drew diagrams so we did not forget. By the end of the weekend he had managed to do it three times and I completed it once. I still remember the disbelief when that final twist put every square into place.

The next day at school break I sat on the grass with some mates and solved the puzzle in front of them. It was a crazy week. I even remember a crowd around me at my aunt’s wedding reception as guests set their digital watches to timer. The adults at the wedding were just as fascinated as the kids. I felt a bit awkward for taking attention away from the bride and groom. It took me ten minutes to solve it at the beginning but soon dad and me could do it in three. Nowadays some people can do it in seconds, even while juggling!

My dad passed away 25 years ago but the cube is a strong connection to him. I recently opened his work briefcase for the first time in a long time and I had to laugh because among his important job related stuff were the loose sheets of instructions with the drawings we made that week. I love knowing that despite him having a very serious job, there were days when he could still enjoy a moment with his workmate messing about learning the Rubik cube.

It’s funny because I still have that original cube from 1981. Not a month goes by when I don’t pick it up, muddle it up and make sure i can still do it. While I’m playing with it now its not really about completing six sides, much more about the shared memories of my dad.