October 6. Day 280. An eye on the past

I recently learned of a condition called Same Story Syndrome. Immediately I knew that there was a tragic prevalence of this affliction in running deep in my family genes. We are great ones for telling the same stories over and over again.
One of those stories involves my father as a schoolboy at St Laurence's College at South Brisbane staring out the window at the Sommerville House girls next door.
As the story goes, a Christian Brother would say: "Are you looking at those Presbyterian girls again, Hetherbell?"
"Yes Sir," my father would reply.
"Would you like to go and join them?"
"Yes Sir," my father would again reply and he would get the cane for his trouble.
So perhaps it should be no surprise that when I asked my teenage son this morning if he would like to join me on a visit to Sommerville House he immediately showed a keen interest because "there will be hot girls".
When I explained that it was school holidays so there would be no girls there he immediately lost interest and went back to reading his book. What a shame the cane has gone out of favour.
Sommerville house was for the first time today allowing the public in as part of the Brisbane Open House scheme where once a year people are allowed a peek inside buildings normally out of bounds.
That seemed like an opportunity too good to be missed (even without the prospect of hot girls).
The old South Brisbane Municpal Chambers, Cumbooquepa and the Somerville House Chapel all on the campus were open to allow a rare glimpse inside.
One of those having a look was Bettina, a old who graduated in 1941, was back at the chapel having a close-up look at what was now happening at the school.