The Moggy and The Foggy

The weather is still rather hot. Perishables spoil when left out of the fridge for even short periods, let alone being left to bake in the sun by the side of the road for a few days. Consequently, whoever left the dead cat at my bus stop is going to be very upset when they come back to get it.

Man! Usually when I step off the bus of an afternoon my nostrils are caressed by the fragrant tang of Toohey Forest, but today they were whalloped by funky kitty simmering on the footpath. And the damn thing's going to be humming for a while yet. I'm going to have to get off at another stop for a few days, there's no question. It was way too far gone to fling it into the forest or some other tactic that would see me arriving home with my lunch intact for the rest of the week; I don't know that the cat would actually have held together. Why don't people teach their pets road sense?

The worst thing (actually, the stench was the worst thing, but we'll just run with the concept for convenience) was that it was obviously a cared-for pet, with its glossy white coat and little belled collar. How hideous to be out searching for Tinkerbell and find the festive little fly community I was greeted with. MegaKitty got some extra attention when I arrived home.

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In news slightly less distressing to the nose, today was Brendan day. As with all such events, I was disproportionally anxious prior to the rendezvous. Can't quite explain that, but there you go.

In short, the meeting was a very fine way to spend a morning indeed. News was caught up on, gossip about people not seen for decades exchanged, thoughts bounced about. The odd crime raised to atone for. Lots of laughing. Even a couple of hugs. It all kept me buoyantly distracted right through until the perfumed bus stop, and then a bit.

I don't think of my school days with misty-eyed sentimentality, but I'm starting to realise just how strong the bond can be with those we endured it with. Like all adversity, it's a very bonding thing. Adolesence is a Very Big Time, so some of our most formative and trying times -- certainly some of our most shameful and humiliating -- happen in front of these people. But the thing is you've seen their laughable fashions, hormone-driven outburts and angsty teen tragedies, too, so we all hold a very privileged place in each others' histories. We're privy to some of each other's classified information.

I will note that Brendan had no hesitation in reminding me of some of the above, and I was pleased that he did, despite my shrieking and squirming. Several high school musical predilections of mine (among other things) came down with no softening whatsoever; most ungentelmanly, I might say.

In chewing it all over, my memories of various times were reinforced, details corrected, dormant information reactivated, adolescent prejudices dropped. As time rolls on and our memories become less reliable, this is one of the reasons it's so valuable to catch up with those from the long-distant past: if we don't it fades and fades until it's gone forever.