About It All Again

I was thinking back to December 1973... a village called Oberjoch (over the hill) in the Bavarian Alps. Six foot of snow! I was learning to ski with 49 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Just six of us squaddies plus instructor.

We went to a gasthaus one night and bumped into some young ladies from a German finishing school. They were chaperoned by a formidable matron and a bull of a middle-aged male teacher. The girls were 16/17… giggling and fluttering in our direction. We were late teens/early twenties…sinking our beer and girding our loins. The matron was glaring at us.

As if to break the tension, the male teacher suddenly produced a guitar and started singing, 'So Long Marianne'. Everyone joined in… six callow soldiers, ski instructor, young ladies, matron, busty barmaid, mien host and all. If memory serves me right, I kissed the prettiest girl in the room.

time trundles on…

always forgetting

to pray for the angels