Coming back from a ride the other day I encountered a Telstra technician digging around the telegraph pole in front of my house. He was examining the hidden section of the pole, or part of it, in search of rot or deterioration. So it was just a routine maintenance job, though I had never seen the procedure before.

He said that the pole dated from 1967 and was in very good order given its age and the location on a hillside, where it would be prone to lots of moving water. I guess that area must drain very well indeed.

Though my memory is not what it used to be (see previous posts), 1967 is not so bad in that respect. I was in third grade at Rose Bay Public, my final year there before moving to the other side of the harbour. There were at least 40 students in 3A and my recollection is that I finished in the bottom half when the reports came out. 

A privilege of being in the primary school, as opposed to the infants (K-2) was that we could go to the local shops on a Friday to buy lunch, with a parental note, of course. I remember buying fish and chips at an establishment in Old South Head Road, one doubtless closed years ago. It's not something I could imagine happening today, with schools being fenced and often locked during the day, to guard against real or imagined persons of ill-intent. As for getting out the gate without a parent - well, forget it!

I also have fond memories of a cake shop in the same street called, Marie's Cakes and Pies, likely closed long ago. A meat pie or sultana cake from there was a much sought after pleasure. In those days such treats were only occasional (even the word 'treat' has a quaint, out-moded quality) and take-away food was at best once a week or fortnight.

Well, times do change, as they always have. I'm not one for nostalgia or beating up the present in favour of a Panglossian past. There was plenty to not like about 1967 I'm sure, though I was a little young at the time to truly understand it.