Katie Jane is coming
to town! In one week we will be
celebrating her belated birthday, eating, drinking, catching up on the last few
months, changing the world, and talking at a pace far exceeding what
would normally be considered possible.
We don’t see each other as much as we once did. We used to share a city, and now we have cities of our own, and circles of our own, so now when we get together it’s time that is savoured.
Some of my richest life memories have been with KJ, we are friends but also kindred spirits. She gets stuff that I get. Like the importance of a well wrapped gift and the ridiculousness of the word macaroni, and the need for pretty stationery, and the infuriating injustice of people pushing in front of you in a queue. The excitement of receiving snail mail and the appreciation of almost everything lovely and beautiful in life.
We've shared so many things over the years, holidays, church services, local missions trips, conferences, meals, shopping expeditions, prayers, tears and laughter.
I love tripping down memory lane, and one memory that stands out in my mind is KJ and my first holiday together when we were 19. Two weeks in the midst of winter, in the Blue Water Paradise of Fingal Bay. We stayed in a beautiful holiday house fit for at least 10 people, somehow between us managed to spend thousands of dollars, and feasted between every meal on Skittles and M&M's. It was a colourful time.
Our holiday house backed onto the Tomaree National Park, and waking up after our first night there we noticed that someone had jumped our fence, dragged our BBQ out from against the wall, stuffed a reasonably sized gumtree in it, seasoned it with a generous amount of chlorine that was stored near the jacuzzi, and set it alight leaving a blackened twiggy tree skeleton behind. When we found the odd sight we were obviously a little freaked out, and while there didn't appear to be any danger or cause for alarm we thought we'd call the local police station to report it. They were so helpful, "ok, if it happens again let us know", yes, thank you, do things like this ever happen... twice?
So with no confidence in the local police, we decided to call in the help of Pepe and Matt who we knew were going to be in town. If they slept downstairs near the scary window that looked out onto the BBQ area then we could sleep upstairs with total peace of mind.
That night we slept without a care in the world in our matching purple polka dot flannelette pajamas.
Looking back now I'm not sure that we were any better off with Pepe and Matt's protection, they were great guys but certainly no match for any trouble makers. Pepe was the most metro-sexual guy we knew, extremely well groomed, even confessing to wearing women's Impulse Body Spray because it just smelt better, and Matt was the highly animated theatrical type who used his hands too much when he talked, and, if I didn't know him so well I would assume was obviously - gay. But we were grateful for a good night sleep and, by morning had regained our confidence for the remainder of our holiday.
When the boys left the next day, Katie and I went shopping and found ourselves what we later named 'Man Doll', an interesting children's toy in the liking of a very conservatively dressed middle aged man. There it was, we'd found our solution. A constant male presence for our house, who was respectable looking and totally portable.
We don’t see each other as much as we once did. We used to share a city, and now we have cities of our own, and circles of our own, so now when we get together it’s time that is savoured.
Some of my richest life memories have been with KJ, we are friends but also kindred spirits. She gets stuff that I get. Like the importance of a well wrapped gift and the ridiculousness of the word macaroni, and the need for pretty stationery, and the infuriating injustice of people pushing in front of you in a queue. The excitement of receiving snail mail and the appreciation of almost everything lovely and beautiful in life.
We've shared so many things over the years, holidays, church services, local missions trips, conferences, meals, shopping expeditions, prayers, tears and laughter.
I love tripping down memory lane, and one memory that stands out in my mind is KJ and my first holiday together when we were 19. Two weeks in the midst of winter, in the Blue Water Paradise of Fingal Bay. We stayed in a beautiful holiday house fit for at least 10 people, somehow between us managed to spend thousands of dollars, and feasted between every meal on Skittles and M&M's. It was a colourful time.
Our holiday house backed onto the Tomaree National Park, and waking up after our first night there we noticed that someone had jumped our fence, dragged our BBQ out from against the wall, stuffed a reasonably sized gumtree in it, seasoned it with a generous amount of chlorine that was stored near the jacuzzi, and set it alight leaving a blackened twiggy tree skeleton behind. When we found the odd sight we were obviously a little freaked out, and while there didn't appear to be any danger or cause for alarm we thought we'd call the local police station to report it. They were so helpful, "ok, if it happens again let us know", yes, thank you, do things like this ever happen... twice?
So with no confidence in the local police, we decided to call in the help of Pepe and Matt who we knew were going to be in town. If they slept downstairs near the scary window that looked out onto the BBQ area then we could sleep upstairs with total peace of mind.
That night we slept without a care in the world in our matching purple polka dot flannelette pajamas.
Looking back now I'm not sure that we were any better off with Pepe and Matt's protection, they were great guys but certainly no match for any trouble makers. Pepe was the most metro-sexual guy we knew, extremely well groomed, even confessing to wearing women's Impulse Body Spray because it just smelt better, and Matt was the highly animated theatrical type who used his hands too much when he talked, and, if I didn't know him so well I would assume was obviously - gay. But we were grateful for a good night sleep and, by morning had regained our confidence for the remainder of our holiday.
When the boys left the next day, Katie and I went shopping and found ourselves what we later named 'Man Doll', an interesting children's toy in the liking of a very conservatively dressed middle aged man. There it was, we'd found our solution. A constant male presence for our house, who was respectable looking and totally portable.
Happy memories!
