Band camp

As one of the parent-helpers for the band at my children's school, I volunteered to drive a rented truck from the school to the Uniting Church conference centre, Naamaroo in Lane Cove River Park for the annual band camp. My HR license comes in handy sometimes (I'd like an HC license, but we don't have enough instruments to require a B-double) and I find driving trucks pleasant, particularly manuals. Actually, I prefer 'crash' gear boxes, as I'd acquired on an old truck the knack of gear change without using the clutch at all. Modern trucks with semi-automatic gearboxes and compression brakes are just too easy!

In my single days I attended a couple of events at Naamaroo; one '20-plus' house party organised by the Churches of Christ Department of Church Development and Education (I'd served as a committee member for a few years on this in the early 80s, but don't know if I was much use!), and a conference of some sort so long ago I can't remember the topic.

It was good to wander around recalling those days and the people I'd met, including one Romeo (sorry, a woman: I'm using the 'phonetic' alphabet abbreviation for added mystery). I'd known Romeo for some time, and was surprised to find that a previous boss of mine had taught in her kindergarten class a few years prior: he was not a teacher, but wanted to have the 'teacher experience' as part of his own professional practice; she gave him a group of the most difficult boys, just for fun (hers, not his).