I was in the place I grew up this week. I was with our children, so a daily outing was required, and as such found myself driving to parts of town I haven't visited in a while.
That brought on lots of memories of the people and things I did when I was younger. Friends I haven't seen in a while, hobbies from yesteryear.
But one of the strongest recollections that came back to me as I drove was of the school bus, as I encountered its meandering route from the bottom of the hill to the other side of town. The cast of characters and the seating politics. Paper ticket clipped on the way in. The walk home up the hill at the end of the day.
From anxiously trying to work it out on my first day, to sitting at the back of the bus as a sixth former, I must have ridden that bus a couple thousand times over the years. Not knowing that one day I'd look back and remember, and wonder if today's bus goes the same way.