This is post number 100 to this blog. Eight months ago I had no idea it would go this far, but I was willing to go along for the ride.
Thanks to you guys it has, and I appreciate you. All of you have contributed stories and ideas and comments and pictures and emails and, well, the list goes on. There are people who look at this thing almost daily, and believe me I still spend a lot of time thinking up things that I haven't already covered. :)
The original idea was to get people together and share a few memories and laughs and maybe provide just a little bit of escape from the daily grind. I think that for a dirty dozen or so we've done that, and those are just the ones who have put down their name or sent an email.
I see stats on every visit to this blog, the machines not the people, but I can pretty much tell who is who by the time of day they visit. And in there, among the visits by the ones I can guess at are ones I have no idea about. The ones who visit occasionally from Oklahoma or Miami haven't said much yet, but they will.
I'm not usually an optimist by nature, but about this thing I am. This time next year there will be a lot more of us who regularly visit here.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Age Spots
I realize we're all a few years older than we were in school, but I have a question. Do you really feel older? I'm not talking about physically, I know there are differences there, but what about mentally?
I don't. Mentally I feel just like I did in high school. Obviously the hair is almost all grey, there are a lot of wrinkles, especially around my eyes, and what I used to think was a few freckles congregating on my arm turned out to be an age spot, but that's all physical and I think the physical side changes much quicker than the mental side.
Some of us age more gracefully than others. My wife for example is 52 and doesn't have a grey hair on her head, I on the other hand look my age, but I don't feel my age. I like to think my younger kids have kept me on my toes, and maybe they have. I still love to cut up and laugh and joke and horse play just like I did in high school.
The other night the football team for my kid's high school was in a playoff game and it was raining and windy with the temperature around 40. I didn't go. They did, and I would have too when I was in high school, but I stayed in where it was warm. Older also means wiser. :)
I don't. Mentally I feel just like I did in high school. Obviously the hair is almost all grey, there are a lot of wrinkles, especially around my eyes, and what I used to think was a few freckles congregating on my arm turned out to be an age spot, but that's all physical and I think the physical side changes much quicker than the mental side.
Some of us age more gracefully than others. My wife for example is 52 and doesn't have a grey hair on her head, I on the other hand look my age, but I don't feel my age. I like to think my younger kids have kept me on my toes, and maybe they have. I still love to cut up and laugh and joke and horse play just like I did in high school.
The other night the football team for my kid's high school was in a playoff game and it was raining and windy with the temperature around 40. I didn't go. They did, and I would have too when I was in high school, but I stayed in where it was warm. Older also means wiser. :)
Monday, October 23, 2006
It's Not too Early to Start Making Plans
I'm still shaking my head about Brenda having to sit in the principal's office. She, and a few others always gave me the impression of being quiet and shy, too shy to ever be sent to the office. Sorry Brenda, I'm not trying to embarrass you.
Did you ever think you had someone pegged a certain way only to find out later, either before or after graduation, that you really didn't know them at all? Obviously there are some situations where that surprise can be in a bad way, but I guess what got me thinking about this was the times that you caught yourself thinking, "Huh, they are so nice!"
Kaye Collis Gordon is another one, and no Kaye, I'm not picking on you either. During high school I thought Kaye was very nice and friendly, but I didn't run in her circle nor she in mine, so I really didn't know her. Twenty years later when we bumped into each other in Memphis I got to see just how nice she is. Her family and mine had several get togethers and they were fun.
Even in a school as small as ours it was hard to really know everybody. I'm betting that if we all really thought about it, we have one or two nagging little wishes about knowing someone better back then.
Delphia mentioned in an email recently that we really need a 40th and I totally agree. Several of us have talked about getting together even if there is no reunion and we can do that too. I'm not sure what all I can do, but I will help either way. The internet makes it easier for those of us farther away to pitch in and do stuff like mailing and stuff like that. I'm still trying to get an email list together. I officially have 20 addresses, but 4 or 5 of them have not responded to my emails, so they're still sort of in limbo. But looking on the bright side, that's 20 in 6 months, so that makes 40 in a year and there's about 3 and half years until we would have a reunion, so there's time. :) Okay, so I'm stretching it some. :)
Anyway, any ideas? I vote for more than just a one night get together. Let's make a weekend out of it. Friday night casual, Saturday night a little more formal, and either Sunday or Saturday brunch or picnic someplace. What do you think?
Did you ever think you had someone pegged a certain way only to find out later, either before or after graduation, that you really didn't know them at all? Obviously there are some situations where that surprise can be in a bad way, but I guess what got me thinking about this was the times that you caught yourself thinking, "Huh, they are so nice!"
Kaye Collis Gordon is another one, and no Kaye, I'm not picking on you either. During high school I thought Kaye was very nice and friendly, but I didn't run in her circle nor she in mine, so I really didn't know her. Twenty years later when we bumped into each other in Memphis I got to see just how nice she is. Her family and mine had several get togethers and they were fun.
Even in a school as small as ours it was hard to really know everybody. I'm betting that if we all really thought about it, we have one or two nagging little wishes about knowing someone better back then.
Delphia mentioned in an email recently that we really need a 40th and I totally agree. Several of us have talked about getting together even if there is no reunion and we can do that too. I'm not sure what all I can do, but I will help either way. The internet makes it easier for those of us farther away to pitch in and do stuff like mailing and stuff like that. I'm still trying to get an email list together. I officially have 20 addresses, but 4 or 5 of them have not responded to my emails, so they're still sort of in limbo. But looking on the bright side, that's 20 in 6 months, so that makes 40 in a year and there's about 3 and half years until we would have a reunion, so there's time. :) Okay, so I'm stretching it some. :)
Anyway, any ideas? I vote for more than just a one night get together. Let's make a weekend out of it. Friday night casual, Saturday night a little more formal, and either Sunday or Saturday brunch or picnic someplace. What do you think?
Monday, October 16, 2006
My Feel Good Letter
In an earlier post I mentioned the money, or lack of it, we had back in high school and I also mentioned the letter you can get from Social Security that details your annual salary. I call it my feel good letter, because when I complain about what I make now I can look back at this letter and say "My God, how did we get by on that?" Well, I got my feel good letter today and it's funny to wonder how we got by on so little.
In 1967 I made $257. I was 15 and sitting on top of the world. What was I ever going to do with that much money? In '68 I went up to a whopping $363, or just short of a dollar a day. In 1969 it skyrocketed to $543, and in '70 it went thru the ceiling at $1,364 (I got a job at Maramont). I make more in a month now than I did in those 4 years combined.
I guess you could argue that yes, I made a lot less then, but things also cost a lot less then too. That's a good point. 25 cents a gallon for gas, cigarettes 20-25 cents a pack. And you could also argue that I didn't have to worry about rent or anything like that during those years, and that would also be true. I can remember when I first got married in 1972, I could take $10 on pay day and fill up the car and buy a carton of cigarettes and a case of beer.
But the point I guess is how did we get by on so little back then and how does so much spread so thin now? I make as much in a year now as I made the entire decade of the 70s. At first glance that sounds like a lot, but it's not. We do okay, but we still have to balance a budget, just as I'm sure the rest of you do.
I guess that's life though, but for a little while at least the feel good letter is going to keep me smiling.
In 1967 I made $257. I was 15 and sitting on top of the world. What was I ever going to do with that much money? In '68 I went up to a whopping $363, or just short of a dollar a day. In 1969 it skyrocketed to $543, and in '70 it went thru the ceiling at $1,364 (I got a job at Maramont). I make more in a month now than I did in those 4 years combined.
I guess you could argue that yes, I made a lot less then, but things also cost a lot less then too. That's a good point. 25 cents a gallon for gas, cigarettes 20-25 cents a pack. And you could also argue that I didn't have to worry about rent or anything like that during those years, and that would also be true. I can remember when I first got married in 1972, I could take $10 on pay day and fill up the car and buy a carton of cigarettes and a case of beer.
But the point I guess is how did we get by on so little back then and how does so much spread so thin now? I make as much in a year now as I made the entire decade of the 70s. At first glance that sounds like a lot, but it's not. We do okay, but we still have to balance a budget, just as I'm sure the rest of you do.
I guess that's life though, but for a little while at least the feel good letter is going to keep me smiling.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Friday Night Football
It’s Friday and we’re getting the first signs of winter here, nighttime temperatures into the 30s and the wind crisp and cold out of the north. It actually snowed a little yesterday. So what does this cold snap bring to mind? Football!
A typical Friday in high school shared at least one thing in common with a typical Friday now – I can’t wait to get the day over with and get on with my weekend – but after school I would hurry home and eat and hurry back to the football field to see who I could hook up with.
I can remember games when it was so cold everybody was bundled up, including the cheerleaders, and the two most popular spots were the concession stand getting coffee or the restroom to get in out of the cold. Of course that cold was relative. It was cold to us but someone from North Dakota or Alaska would probably laugh at us.
But it was cold, and it was fun. Sometimes, it almost seemed like the colder, the better. The crowd always seemed to get into it more when it was cold. Maybe it was a way to stay warm. Who wanted to sit down on cold bleachers?
I can remember one game when this leather-lunged, half-drunk guy sitting behind me yelled some of the most obscene cheers I’ve ever heard. I still remember one of them word for word.
I also remember a fight or two, but the then new high school didn’t seem to have as many of those as the old field up on the hill. I remember one game with Lenoir City at the old high school when there had to have been eight or ten guys going at it behind the bleachers.
The games were also “rumor central” where you would run into people you sometimes didn’t see during the week and caught up on who was doing what, or sometimes even who was doing who.
I still see the kids running around like we did back then, so it must be just as much fun to them as it was to us. Why didn’t we ever think to take off our shirts when it was 35 degrees and paint ourselves red and white?? :)
A typical Friday in high school shared at least one thing in common with a typical Friday now – I can’t wait to get the day over with and get on with my weekend – but after school I would hurry home and eat and hurry back to the football field to see who I could hook up with.
I can remember games when it was so cold everybody was bundled up, including the cheerleaders, and the two most popular spots were the concession stand getting coffee or the restroom to get in out of the cold. Of course that cold was relative. It was cold to us but someone from North Dakota or Alaska would probably laugh at us.
But it was cold, and it was fun. Sometimes, it almost seemed like the colder, the better. The crowd always seemed to get into it more when it was cold. Maybe it was a way to stay warm. Who wanted to sit down on cold bleachers?
I can remember one game when this leather-lunged, half-drunk guy sitting behind me yelled some of the most obscene cheers I’ve ever heard. I still remember one of them word for word.
I also remember a fight or two, but the then new high school didn’t seem to have as many of those as the old field up on the hill. I remember one game with Lenoir City at the old high school when there had to have been eight or ten guys going at it behind the bleachers.
The games were also “rumor central” where you would run into people you sometimes didn’t see during the week and caught up on who was doing what, or sometimes even who was doing who.
I still see the kids running around like we did back then, so it must be just as much fun to them as it was to us. Why didn’t we ever think to take off our shirts when it was 35 degrees and paint ourselves red and white?? :)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Homecoming
Homecoming. Technically we had four. Do you remember any of them? Am I wrong or was the only things that happened during homecoming the football game and voting for the Homecoming Queen, oh, and a parade, I almost forgot the parade. There was a parade, right? Do you remember who you voted for? I remember voting for Doris my senior year, I don’t recall the others. Heck, I don’t even remember who ran.
One of the traps of nostalgia is that things somehow seem “better” when you think back to years ago, but I don’t always think that’s true. Sure, some things, a lot in fact, were better back then in their own way, and I guess getting involved with a site like this is trying to relive them to a degree, but they were not always better.
One of those is Homecoming. These days, at least at my kid’s schools, they have a Homecoming Week. Each day is a different theme and they dress or do different things, or eat specific foods in the cafeteria; there’s a powder puff football game for the girls on Thursday night before the big game on Friday; and, there’s a dance at the school on Saturday night. To me that makes Homecoming more important, more reasons for someone to actually “come home.” Why not party all week instead of just one night?
One of the traps of nostalgia is that things somehow seem “better” when you think back to years ago, but I don’t always think that’s true. Sure, some things, a lot in fact, were better back then in their own way, and I guess getting involved with a site like this is trying to relive them to a degree, but they were not always better.
One of those is Homecoming. These days, at least at my kid’s schools, they have a Homecoming Week. Each day is a different theme and they dress or do different things, or eat specific foods in the cafeteria; there’s a powder puff football game for the girls on Thursday night before the big game on Friday; and, there’s a dance at the school on Saturday night. To me that makes Homecoming more important, more reasons for someone to actually “come home.” Why not party all week instead of just one night?
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Corporal Punishment
Did you ever get punished in school? I did. :) I wasn't a bad kid. I was just a kid who pushed the limits from time to time. Not as bad as some but worse than some others. It was sort of funny how punishment changed from our freshman year to our senior year. I recall a couple of guys getting paddlings during freshman year, but by the time senior year rolled around, punishment had changed to more of an administrative type.
Anything from doing extra work to explusions to just plain threats. I remember once Miss McCall was given me another go 'round for being out of class or smoking in the bathroom or something like that and she mentioned the word "expel" and I said something like "That would be like a day off, huh?" She didn't mention it again after letting me sit in the office for about an hour.
It was funny when you sat in the office. Everybody who saw you sitting there knew you were in trouble for something. I'm not sure now whether they were trying to humiliate me by having me sit there, or sending a message to those that saw me. Sort of an advertisement. Maybe it was a little of both.
This showed up again several years later when we were relocating from California to South Carolina. My oldest son was 13 and one of the forms he brought home at the beginning of the school year said that the school system administered corporal punishment unless there was a note from the parents saying not to. Corporal punishment was unheard of in California. My son said, "You're going to write the note, right?" And of course I said, "No. If you deserve it, you'll get it." "They're not going to spank me," he grumbled. Guess what? They did, and it was the last time he was ever in trouble at school. I'm sure his maturing had a lot to do with it, but I think the "attention getter" did too.
Anything from doing extra work to explusions to just plain threats. I remember once Miss McCall was given me another go 'round for being out of class or smoking in the bathroom or something like that and she mentioned the word "expel" and I said something like "That would be like a day off, huh?" She didn't mention it again after letting me sit in the office for about an hour.
It was funny when you sat in the office. Everybody who saw you sitting there knew you were in trouble for something. I'm not sure now whether they were trying to humiliate me by having me sit there, or sending a message to those that saw me. Sort of an advertisement. Maybe it was a little of both.
This showed up again several years later when we were relocating from California to South Carolina. My oldest son was 13 and one of the forms he brought home at the beginning of the school year said that the school system administered corporal punishment unless there was a note from the parents saying not to. Corporal punishment was unheard of in California. My son said, "You're going to write the note, right?" And of course I said, "No. If you deserve it, you'll get it." "They're not going to spank me," he grumbled. Guess what? They did, and it was the last time he was ever in trouble at school. I'm sure his maturing had a lot to do with it, but I think the "attention getter" did too.
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