Sometimes when I am standing in the quad at HPS waiting for the bell at 3.10, my mind drifts back to my own primary school days. It occurred to me that it was rare to sight a parent waiting for a child back then, since just about everybody walked home (this being at Killarney Heights PS) and the times were uncomplicated. Parents were less inclined to fuss and worry than nowadays, though I suspect the dangers, if there were any, were just as great as now. Looking around the playground at Tom's school there are always parents waiting for their kids even if the walk home is relatively short.

Going back even further in time to my days at Rose Bay Public, I remember catching a bus home in the afternoon with nary an adult in site, save perhaps for the teacher on duty. These old green and yellow double-deckers grunted slowly into action as they left the kerb, pausing dangerously for air between the gear shifts. It was not uncommon for one of these ancient beasts to completely stall going up the hill on Old South Head Rd to Vaucluse. The bus stop at the top of Young Street had a small cluster of shops, one of which sold sweets. The elderly and easily irritated man who was the proprietor would wave his stick at the first sign of cheekiness. From there I walked the short distance home, past South Head Cemetery. Nobody bothered with us - we were just kids walking home.

This afternoon Tom surprised me by appearing in a costume put together for a kind of bushranger/damper-making day. Here he is, together with one of the aforementioned buses on Easter Show duty in 1972.