Stray Cat Strut

Today my wife and I put up a fence together, to keep the deer out of her garden. This evening, as I took a bike ride in the foothills, my iPod played Grieg's "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen," which my wife's brother played at our wedding. (More specifically: we were married in the temple, but since virtually all relatives on her side of the family are not LDS, our sealing was followed by ring ceremony, conducted by her bishop who was also a friend of mine, at a nearby historical Church building. The Grieg piece played as a processional to this ceremony, which remains one of the spiritual highlights of my life.) I felt happy to be married to this woman.

Then my iPod shuffled to "Sexy & 17" by the Stray Cats. I spent the rest of my ride trying to remember whether the shot of the girl with the incredible legs--presumably "Little Marie," the song's love interest--preparing at the bathroom sink for her night out, was a still shot or a pan. I was pre-deacon when this song was a hit, but Marie obviously left such an impression that, despite not having seen the video for a few decades, I remembered most details about her: her heels, her garters, the Cat Tat on her right shoulder, her furtive entry into the shower (I'm sure my friends and I crippled the heads of a few VCRs trying to frame-advance that shot) -- everything except for whether the shot of her from behind, at the sink, was a still or a pan. So this question monopolized my mind until about an hour later, when we were well into the sealing session of our friends and their newly-adopted son. The sealer--who's also our home teacher--gave an introductory message that was rich and thought provoking, leaving no more room for Marie.

Afterwards, as the sealing party gathered in the temple lobby before heading out front for photos, a woman who was at least 5'11" with perilous heels and a barely-long-enough-for-Gs skirt passed us with her husband, and Marie was back. But when I noticed that my wife had dusted off some flattering heels of her own for the occasion, Marie was banished for the evening, and I was eager to get home.