And Yesterday...

For a change of pace, I attended a memorial service for someone who died far from home, peacefully in his sleep, after enjoying a fantastic evening with friends.

I have known the family since I was 14 or so. I was at college with the deceased's brother, whom I flatted with for years. We were best men at each others' weddings. Their mother was our English teacher, and she took the opportunity to apologise for us having to read the Grapes of Wrath. We reminisced about the class where no-one had read the last chapter, and one chap, with a stated plan of George Costanza-like ingenuity, decided bravado, and having his moment in the spotlight early, was the best strategy to avoid detection, bluffed that he had by volunteering an answer at the earliest opportunity.

Instead of moving quickly onto the next student, our teacher pressed him to expand on his response. The rest of us were breathless with awe at the speed this boy's plan had turned pear shaped.

Good times.

The father has a military bearing. With good reason. Family legend has it that the scar on his ear came from a knife fight with one of the Kray twins. It's a credible story.

There are more brothers, and a sister. They are fine people. And strong.

The deceased can most diplomatically be described as an irrascible rogue. Amongst other things, an accountant, a publican, raconteur, husband, father, grandfather, philanderer, sailor, drinker, and one of the most memorable & likeable fellows you are ever likely to meet. Like most of us, his life experienced its ups and downs, actually a great deal more than most of us. My friend, his brother, tidied his affairs, collected his ashes from a place near a beach on the other side of the world, and brought him home.

Many stories and memories were unspoken. He did for instance, upon being pulled over at a checkpoint in the middle of the night, abandon the car, run across the motorway and up into the bush above Wellington Harbour, to escape identification.  He later reported the car stolen. it was borrowed from a friend anyway.

He also, purportedly, knew how to slow an electricity meter down so that his entire home full of appliances was costing him about the same as running a small fridge. The power company sure knew something was going on, but I don't know if they ever managed to rectify the state of affairs while he lived there.

I walked back from the church along the river bank, straying briefly from the track to investigate something in the river, a head popped up from the long grass. Eww, rutting teenagers. I laughed & determined to stick to the track from now on. Later I realised I should have checked they were practising safe sex.

This dog is keenly waiting for a train. Apparently he goes amusingly nuts when one passes. He was certainly reluctant to continue his walk until one appeared.

It did, about a minute after he gave up.