The Retrieving Of Bonzo Got Us Into A Doo-Dah

Bonzo

My wife and I were talking about animals we have had in the family over the years: Pudd'n, Toby, Bonzo, Black Cat, Kayley, Herbina, Sylvester and so on - a mixture of cats, dogs and terrapins. We have photos of most of these except for Bonzo, who was our favourite cat from - gulp! - twenty odd years back.

So no Bonzo photos. But then coincidence, synchronicity or whatever swings into action! The following day Karin has decided to sort out the dreaded cupboard under the stairs. It's a bit like Dr Who's Tardis, except what goes in is often never seen again. It must be a gateway to another existence or something.

Anyway, with bottom in the air, Karin attacks the unknown and finds all sorts of goodies like carrier bags with car brand names from when the family went to the car show in London some - another gulp! - 24 years ago.

"Ah," she says, before disappearing completely from view, "What are these? Photos!"

And, of course, they just happen to be pictures of Bonzo, "But we were only talking about him last night," noted the intrepid explorer somewhere from the interior.

And that's why there are photos of Bonzo on today's post, along with those of Sylvester, Kayley and Toby.

Sylvester the terrapin when small - he grew and grew!

"Why did we call him Bonzo?"

That got us puzzled: From the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band perhaps. But their name came from Bonzo the dog - an old cartoon from the 1920s and 1930s. Not that I remember him, obviously.

Bonzo cartoon 1920-30 by George Studdy

But the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band did mention the word coincidence in one of their lyrics from something they called Keynsham:

"Lipstick gleam

 Hexachloraphene 

 Cling cling the ring 

 Clang clang she sang 

 It's tragic magic 

 There are no coincidences 

 But sometimes the pattern is more obvious"

But whatever, it was good to see Bonzo again and revive a few memories, though some a little sad.

Toby the border collie

When my son was about 6 or 7 Karin had to fly off to Germany as her mother was seriously ill, so the two of us were left in charge - of each other!

Sadly, on the first day of our freedom, we had a phone call from a neighbour, something like, "Your cat's on the grass outside my house."

"Okay," I answered a bit puzzled, "Great, I'll come and get him," thinking the neighbour didn't like cats or something.

"No, it's not great," said Mrs Grumpy, "Your cat has snuffed it."

It seems our lovely Bonzo had been hit by a car and the driver had laid him on the grass and driven on.

So there was a burial in the garden.

Okay, a bitter sweet memory perhaps but, there again, there were lots of good things also brought to the surface and Bonzo lives on along with Pudd'n, Toby, Black Cat, Kayley, Herbina, Sylvester et al. Plus we've got a tidy cupboard under the stairs.

Kayley - and see how she was colour coded to the carpet we had back then

Other Pussy Cat Stories:
Winnie The Cat Was Returned After Five Years
Poppy The Cat's Red Collar Coincidence
The Power Of Lilly The Life Saving Cat