As I've said before, sometimes memories of high school run together with other memories of home and it's hard to separate them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, especially for those of us who live away from Loudon. I have found over the years that no matter where I am or what I’m doing, sometimes something will happen that sweeps me right back home.
Over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays while we were visiting my oldest daughter and her family, we discovered that their next door neighbors were from Johnson City. They were younger than I am, but we had a couple of things in common, and could talk about Knoxville and the area in general.
Several years ago, when my youngest two kids were something like 6 and 8, we were driving through Kansas (I think), and out in the middle of nowhere, with no town for a hundred miles in any direction, we came upon a car with Loudon plates. As I drove past them on the interstate my youngest daughter scribbled out a sign that said, “My Daddy’s from Loudon” and held it up. I didn’t recognize them, and really didn't think I would, but they laughed and waved and so did we. It broke up the monotony of a long drive.
In 1982 I was stationed at Fort Ord on the central California coast. My boss for a time was a guy named Charlie who was from Louisiana. We used to sit and talk about things from the south that we missed – the food, the places, the things you could do. One Monday morning Charlie told me that over the weekend he and his wife had been out sightseeing and found themselves in Sacramento where they had just opened a Po Folks restaurant. He told me how good the food was and that I should go there sometime. When I went back to my desk there was a neatly wrapped gift sitting on it. I opened it up and inside was an RC cola and a Moon Pie that Charlie had bought back from Po Folks. It was a simple gesture on his part, but I was never so happy to see a Moon Pie in my life.
Country roads may take you home, but Moon Pies let you remember what home tastes like. :)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Friends and Neighbors
Sometimes I start to write something here, and as I'm writing it occurs to me that the memory wasn't from high school. I guess being so long gone from such a small place where you encountered the same people thoughout most of your life, memories tend to bleed together sometimes. I haven't bothered to count, but the majority of the people I graduated with I have known since at least the first grade, and some way before then.
At various times my neighbors have included Bo Carey (his grandfather really, but Bo was there a lot) the Lawson boys, Jackie Lefler, David Hope, Sandra Fagg, Larry and Jerry Ricker, Johnny and Donnie Miller, Eddie McCallister, Jane McCollister, Bruce and Dickie Blankenship, David Ridings, Gary Williams, Ricky Mitchell, Pat Milsaps, Sandra Ward, Mack McNew, Freddy Lindsey, Debbie McCollister, Eddie Scott, Gordo Watson, Sylvia Robinson, Buddie and Tim Guider, Doug Christian, Allen and Wayne McNabb, Mike Littleton, Cynthia Blair, Eugene Henley, Jean Julian, Tony Woody, Terry Dixon, Paul Scott, and I know I must be forgetting several more. All these were either next door or within a street or two. We moved a lot. :)
I know you all can do the same thing because it's bound to happen in a town that size, but then again, that's what builds friendships, right?
At various times my neighbors have included Bo Carey (his grandfather really, but Bo was there a lot) the Lawson boys, Jackie Lefler, David Hope, Sandra Fagg, Larry and Jerry Ricker, Johnny and Donnie Miller, Eddie McCallister, Jane McCollister, Bruce and Dickie Blankenship, David Ridings, Gary Williams, Ricky Mitchell, Pat Milsaps, Sandra Ward, Mack McNew, Freddy Lindsey, Debbie McCollister, Eddie Scott, Gordo Watson, Sylvia Robinson, Buddie and Tim Guider, Doug Christian, Allen and Wayne McNabb, Mike Littleton, Cynthia Blair, Eugene Henley, Jean Julian, Tony Woody, Terry Dixon, Paul Scott, and I know I must be forgetting several more. All these were either next door or within a street or two. We moved a lot. :)
I know you all can do the same thing because it's bound to happen in a town that size, but then again, that's what builds friendships, right?
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Snow
I shoveled snow today for the first time this year. I don't really mind it, it's good exercise and a short driveway. It's not really shoveling, it's more pushing. You put the shovel down and push the snow off the driveway in pretty much the same way a snow plow does the roads. Maybe one day I'll get a snow blower but right now, like I said, it's good exercise.
Usually when I do it my mind wanders to all sorts of things. Today I was thinking about when we were kids and it would snow.
I can remember starting at the top of Reservoir Hill and riding a sled down Mason Lane and having to turn on Commerce Street to keep from hitting the railroad tracks. You could coast almost to the overpass in front of the old Junior High School.
I remember one year we were on the IGA side of the river and used the hood of an old car for a sled. It was fun, you could get 4 or 5 guys on it at one time.
I can remember riding down Freedman Street over in Mexico. There was a group of us there. A few times I would lay on my belly and Jane McCollister laid on top of me and we both went down the hill together. We were in high school. :)
After getting cold and wet we would spend the rest of the day inside playing Monopoly or Yahtzee. Sometimes we had hot chocolate or no bake cookies, but almost all the time we had snow cream. I miss snow cream. I've tried to explain it to my kids, but I'm not sure they understand just how good it was. Nobody makes that much anymore, too much polution I guess, but man was it good.
I think I'll go make some no bake cookies. :)
Usually when I do it my mind wanders to all sorts of things. Today I was thinking about when we were kids and it would snow.
I can remember starting at the top of Reservoir Hill and riding a sled down Mason Lane and having to turn on Commerce Street to keep from hitting the railroad tracks. You could coast almost to the overpass in front of the old Junior High School.
I remember one year we were on the IGA side of the river and used the hood of an old car for a sled. It was fun, you could get 4 or 5 guys on it at one time.
I can remember riding down Freedman Street over in Mexico. There was a group of us there. A few times I would lay on my belly and Jane McCollister laid on top of me and we both went down the hill together. We were in high school. :)
After getting cold and wet we would spend the rest of the day inside playing Monopoly or Yahtzee. Sometimes we had hot chocolate or no bake cookies, but almost all the time we had snow cream. I miss snow cream. I've tried to explain it to my kids, but I'm not sure they understand just how good it was. Nobody makes that much anymore, too much polution I guess, but man was it good.
I think I'll go make some no bake cookies. :)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Can I Take Home Ec?
Almost half way through senior year, as I was smarting from my last failed attempt at romance, I reached the point where I decided I was fed up with the whole thing and whenever the subject of girls was brought up I declared I was going to remain a bachelor my whole life.
The responses I got usually ranged from "Bullsh*t" to "Yeah, sure" to "You'll starve", so I thought I needed some way to prove my point. One day when I was walking down the hall, Mrs Morgan was standing outside her office and on the spur of the moment I asked her if it was possible for me to take half a year of Home Economics. I think she thought I was joking, so after smiling she gave me a few reasons why not, one of the main ones being that Home Ec was geared toward girls and a guy being in there would cause some gender issues.
Life has a funny way of working and as it turned out I didn't need Home Ec. One of the first jobs I had in the Air Force involved upholstery and I became more than a fair hand with a sewing machine, and then later when I was a single parent for eight years, I got to do all the cooking and cleaning and budgeting and other jobs that come along with running a household.
In a way it was as I said it would be.
The responses I got usually ranged from "Bullsh*t" to "Yeah, sure" to "You'll starve", so I thought I needed some way to prove my point. One day when I was walking down the hall, Mrs Morgan was standing outside her office and on the spur of the moment I asked her if it was possible for me to take half a year of Home Economics. I think she thought I was joking, so after smiling she gave me a few reasons why not, one of the main ones being that Home Ec was geared toward girls and a guy being in there would cause some gender issues.
Life has a funny way of working and as it turned out I didn't need Home Ec. One of the first jobs I had in the Air Force involved upholstery and I became more than a fair hand with a sewing machine, and then later when I was a single parent for eight years, I got to do all the cooking and cleaning and budgeting and other jobs that come along with running a household.
In a way it was as I said it would be.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Initiation
I dreaded going to school at the beginning of freshman year. I had heard all the stories about pants up the flagpole and I wanted no part of it. For the first month or so, everywhere you went you tried to avoid groups of upperclassmen, and tried not to irritate even one of them, because the next thing you know they're ganging up on you.
As it turne out, I was failry lucky. It was apparent that most of the initiations fell into two groups. One was almost a popularity contest. That was when a brother or relative of the freshman spearheaded the movement to get him, or a group of jocks went after an incoming athlete. The other kind was a little more sinister. It was when someone's reputation preceeding them and the upperclassman viewed the freshman as cocky, or a brain or some other unspecified trait they considered annoying. I didn't fall into either of these groups, so my initiation was fairly tame
I got josteled around a few times, being pushed from one upperclassman to another, and someone walked up behind me once and yanked my pants down, but that was about it. I just couldn't understand why they seemed to look down their noses at us. Why we had to put up with it in the first place. Later, when I became an upperclassman I understood why.
Altho we wouldn't admit it, freshman year we were kids and the initiations were as much for the initiation into manhood as they were for starting high school. As freshman we actually played! I can remember a group of us going into the auditorium at lunch and using it almost as a playground, hiding behind the curtains or somewhere backstage, or chasing each other all over the place. I guess we were still in a recess mode, but we did play, and to paraphrase a line from a movie, "There's no playing in high school!!" At least not the type we were doing.
The only physical playing acceptable was the basketball or dodgeball games before school and at lunch. That is, unless Coach Ratledge was in a foul mood and ran us off the court. Otherwise, we learned the rules of games that were mostly social --- how to be more liked and accepted, and especially how to deal with girls.
The upperclassman were doing us a favor of sorts. Almost nothing they did was worse than some of the goofy stunts we would pull over the next 4 years in the hope of catching that certain girl's eye. We were slow in learning that we didn't need stunts, we just had to be ourselves.
As it turne out, I was failry lucky. It was apparent that most of the initiations fell into two groups. One was almost a popularity contest. That was when a brother or relative of the freshman spearheaded the movement to get him, or a group of jocks went after an incoming athlete. The other kind was a little more sinister. It was when someone's reputation preceeding them and the upperclassman viewed the freshman as cocky, or a brain or some other unspecified trait they considered annoying. I didn't fall into either of these groups, so my initiation was fairly tame
I got josteled around a few times, being pushed from one upperclassman to another, and someone walked up behind me once and yanked my pants down, but that was about it. I just couldn't understand why they seemed to look down their noses at us. Why we had to put up with it in the first place. Later, when I became an upperclassman I understood why.
Altho we wouldn't admit it, freshman year we were kids and the initiations were as much for the initiation into manhood as they were for starting high school. As freshman we actually played! I can remember a group of us going into the auditorium at lunch and using it almost as a playground, hiding behind the curtains or somewhere backstage, or chasing each other all over the place. I guess we were still in a recess mode, but we did play, and to paraphrase a line from a movie, "There's no playing in high school!!" At least not the type we were doing.
The only physical playing acceptable was the basketball or dodgeball games before school and at lunch. That is, unless Coach Ratledge was in a foul mood and ran us off the court. Otherwise, we learned the rules of games that were mostly social --- how to be more liked and accepted, and especially how to deal with girls.
The upperclassman were doing us a favor of sorts. Almost nothing they did was worse than some of the goofy stunts we would pull over the next 4 years in the hope of catching that certain girl's eye. We were slow in learning that we didn't need stunts, we just had to be ourselves.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
What a Drag It Is Getting Old
A friend of mine used to say that when you hear your voice on a tape recorder and think you sound funny, how do you know your reflection in a mirror is really how you look? I used to think he was full of beans until I noticed that the guy I look at in the mirror every morning looks a lot different than the guy I see in our family pictures. If our voice is affected by our internal filters, why can't our image be filtered in some way too?
I used to tell my kids when they got to dating age and thought the sun rose and set in a particular person to take a good look at the heart throb's parents to see what Mr. or Miss Wonderful is going to look like when they grow up.
What do these things have to do with this blog? Nothing really, just some thoughts on me and you as we get older. When I think of you guys I automatically think of how you looked in the yearbook. I see Donna with that big smile and a determined sparkle in her eyes. I see Kathey and Brenda with a touch of shy blush when they're being teased. But before I get accussed of living in the past, I know none of us still look that way. Does it make me want to stop thinking about high school and the time I spent with you guys? Nope.
Since I hit 50 there's been a noticable change in me, and I'm sure in you folks as well. For one thing I'm getting shorter. I used to be 5-11, now no matter how I measure it, I'm a touch below 5-10. I used to yell at my boys for wearing their pants too long and walking on the cuff, now I'm doing the same thing. I don't quite have the jowls my mom had, but I do have a bit of a double chin, and I've picked up a little more roly in my poly.
The thing is, we all change as we get older, and I don't know that anyone would say they totally like the way they've changed, but I'm betting that if we spent some time together we would still find something in each other that stands out, something we find comfortable and familiar. Friends see friends that way.
I used to tell my kids when they got to dating age and thought the sun rose and set in a particular person to take a good look at the heart throb's parents to see what Mr. or Miss Wonderful is going to look like when they grow up.
What do these things have to do with this blog? Nothing really, just some thoughts on me and you as we get older. When I think of you guys I automatically think of how you looked in the yearbook. I see Donna with that big smile and a determined sparkle in her eyes. I see Kathey and Brenda with a touch of shy blush when they're being teased. But before I get accussed of living in the past, I know none of us still look that way. Does it make me want to stop thinking about high school and the time I spent with you guys? Nope.
Since I hit 50 there's been a noticable change in me, and I'm sure in you folks as well. For one thing I'm getting shorter. I used to be 5-11, now no matter how I measure it, I'm a touch below 5-10. I used to yell at my boys for wearing their pants too long and walking on the cuff, now I'm doing the same thing. I don't quite have the jowls my mom had, but I do have a bit of a double chin, and I've picked up a little more roly in my poly.
The thing is, we all change as we get older, and I don't know that anyone would say they totally like the way they've changed, but I'm betting that if we spent some time together we would still find something in each other that stands out, something we find comfortable and familiar. Friends see friends that way.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
We're the Same... Just Different
Almost a year ago when I started this blog I really didn't know what would happen with it. I knew what I wanted, but obviously there was no way of predicting exactly what would happen. All I knew for certain was that I still had very fond memories of my high school days and wondered if anyone else out there did too.
I also had our 20th reunion in mind. When anyone asks me about reunions I have always told them about that one. In my mind it shines more than any reunion before or since. That reunion had a great turn out and everyone seemed genuinely happy to see everyone else. Even my wife commented on it and how warm and friendly and happy everyone seemed to be with one another. It didn't seem to matter where we lived, who we married, what kind of job we had, what we had done with our lives, or anything else people use to measure each others success or failure. We were there to spend time together and have fun, and that's all there was to it.
I've often played the game of wondering what things would be like if I hadn't left Loudon or somehow chose another path, and it always comes back to the same conclusion --- I wouldn't really be that much different than I am today. I would obviously have a different job and family, but I would still have the same likes, dislikes, qualities and faults. I would be the same me, just in different surroundings.
In a nutshell, I used to think I was the only one who thought things like that, but now I know I'm not. In reading what everyone else has added to this blog, it's obvious that we felt the same about a lot of things. Almost the same needs, fears and worries. Would we be accepted, would that certain someone notice us, could we handle what the world was going to throw at us, and a host of other questions we faced.
We may have looked different, came from different sized families and from different parts of the county, but we were the same too. And we still are.
I also had our 20th reunion in mind. When anyone asks me about reunions I have always told them about that one. In my mind it shines more than any reunion before or since. That reunion had a great turn out and everyone seemed genuinely happy to see everyone else. Even my wife commented on it and how warm and friendly and happy everyone seemed to be with one another. It didn't seem to matter where we lived, who we married, what kind of job we had, what we had done with our lives, or anything else people use to measure each others success or failure. We were there to spend time together and have fun, and that's all there was to it.
I've often played the game of wondering what things would be like if I hadn't left Loudon or somehow chose another path, and it always comes back to the same conclusion --- I wouldn't really be that much different than I am today. I would obviously have a different job and family, but I would still have the same likes, dislikes, qualities and faults. I would be the same me, just in different surroundings.
In a nutshell, I used to think I was the only one who thought things like that, but now I know I'm not. In reading what everyone else has added to this blog, it's obvious that we felt the same about a lot of things. Almost the same needs, fears and worries. Would we be accepted, would that certain someone notice us, could we handle what the world was going to throw at us, and a host of other questions we faced.
We may have looked different, came from different sized families and from different parts of the county, but we were the same too. And we still are.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Walking
In an earlier post I lamented about not having a car during high school, but when looked at another way it wasn't always bad. I think at one time or another I walked at least part of the way to or from the high school with almost everybody who lived in that part of town.
The ones I can think of are:
Allen McNabb
Wayne McNabb
Doug Christian
Mike Delaney
Freddie Lindsey
Jerry Jones
Edward Watson
Mack McNew
Ricky Mitchell
Larry Lankford
Scott Thornburg (a year ahead of us)
James Wilson (a year ahead of us)
Sandra Ward
Sue Crisp
Liz Morgan (Donna's little sister)
Given a little more time, I could probably add others to this list.
Obviously this changed as more and more people got cars, so there were more walkers freshman year than senior year.
In the last couple of years, walking sometimes included stops by the A&W, especially when it was hot. I still like a mug of cold root beer, but now it's diet. :)
I remember a fight after school once between me and Mike Delaney, or more specifically a going-to-be fight. Like most fights it was mostly talk. One of us didn't really want to fight and the other one was glad of it, but you still had to put on a show of words for everybody who showed up to watch. Wayne, Allen, Larry, Scott and Freddy were all there, and that makes it a very melancholy memory. Scott didn't make it back from Vietnam and the other 4 plus Mike are all gone now too.
I remember other friends honking their horn as they drove past us. I think that was partly to say hi, and partly to say "Look at me, I'm drivin'" :)
It also didn't hurt to be seen walking with a girl either. The ones I walked with were all strictly platonic (much more from thier choice than mine, I'm sure) but it was good for the ego to have one of the guys say something like, "Hey, I saw you and so and so walking home yesterday. You got something going with her?" Heck, they knew the answer to that question without asking, but it was part of the ritual to ask because at some point I had to ask them the same question when I already knew the answer too. :)
Never has my life been so simple, yet so complicated.
The ones I can think of are:
Allen McNabb
Wayne McNabb
Doug Christian
Mike Delaney
Freddie Lindsey
Jerry Jones
Edward Watson
Mack McNew
Ricky Mitchell
Larry Lankford
Scott Thornburg (a year ahead of us)
James Wilson (a year ahead of us)
Sandra Ward
Sue Crisp
Liz Morgan (Donna's little sister)
Given a little more time, I could probably add others to this list.
Obviously this changed as more and more people got cars, so there were more walkers freshman year than senior year.
In the last couple of years, walking sometimes included stops by the A&W, especially when it was hot. I still like a mug of cold root beer, but now it's diet. :)
I remember a fight after school once between me and Mike Delaney, or more specifically a going-to-be fight. Like most fights it was mostly talk. One of us didn't really want to fight and the other one was glad of it, but you still had to put on a show of words for everybody who showed up to watch. Wayne, Allen, Larry, Scott and Freddy were all there, and that makes it a very melancholy memory. Scott didn't make it back from Vietnam and the other 4 plus Mike are all gone now too.
I remember other friends honking their horn as they drove past us. I think that was partly to say hi, and partly to say "Look at me, I'm drivin'" :)
It also didn't hurt to be seen walking with a girl either. The ones I walked with were all strictly platonic (much more from thier choice than mine, I'm sure) but it was good for the ego to have one of the guys say something like, "Hey, I saw you and so and so walking home yesterday. You got something going with her?" Heck, they knew the answer to that question without asking, but it was part of the ritual to ask because at some point I had to ask them the same question when I already knew the answer too. :)
Never has my life been so simple, yet so complicated.
Monday, January 08, 2007
My Birthday
Today is my birthday. I'm 55. The ol' double-nickle. My youngest son keeps telling me that now I can order off the back of the menu in most resturants. He's such a wise-a** :)
I've always had a problem with my birthday. When I was younger it was too close to Christmas. I don't know how many times some relative has handed me something at Christmas and said, "This is for Christmas and your birthday." Everybody else in the family had two separate days, mine were rolled into one.
As I've gotten older I've disliked it because it's too close to the start of the year. It seems I no sooner turn the calendar than I'm another year older, and the good Lord knows that happens quick enough.
I guess Freud could have a field day with either one of those statements. :)
So, what does this have to do with this blog? Not much, except I know you guys can feel my pain, so to speak. If you're not already 55, you will be soon, and we can all cry in our beer together. :)
Cheers!
I've always had a problem with my birthday. When I was younger it was too close to Christmas. I don't know how many times some relative has handed me something at Christmas and said, "This is for Christmas and your birthday." Everybody else in the family had two separate days, mine were rolled into one.
As I've gotten older I've disliked it because it's too close to the start of the year. It seems I no sooner turn the calendar than I'm another year older, and the good Lord knows that happens quick enough.
I guess Freud could have a field day with either one of those statements. :)
So, what does this have to do with this blog? Not much, except I know you guys can feel my pain, so to speak. If you're not already 55, you will be soon, and we can all cry in our beer together. :)
Cheers!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Things That Bring a Smile
Some of the things I remember that immediately bring a smile.
1. The jokes and shenanigans of any number of people, Doug Christian, Steve Knox, Allen McNabb, Mike Littleton and Mike Delaney come immediately to mind.
2. Almost daily duels with Mrs Goode and Miss Mize.
3. Frequent walks with Peggy Dunkin.
4. Almost any football game, but especially senior year.
5. Applied Math class with Coach Dutton.
6. Journalizm class with Ann Hunt and Janice Hughes.
7. World History class with Kenny Parks and Jane McCollister.
8. Riding sleds off Hospital Hill with a bunch of people that included Wayne and Allen McNabb and Jane McCollister. This was when we were 16 or 17, not 6 or 7. :)
9. Working with Clyde Wagner and Frog Williams after school, and how gullible ol' Frog was.
10. Drawing Biology pictures for other people, who I'm not going to mention because they turned them in as their own. :)
11. Writing absentee excuses for people because I wrote "like a girl."
12. Driver's Ed.
If you haven't noticed, I'm back. :) My little hiatus is over and I'm back in the rat race. And yes, some of these things have been mentioned before, but that's going to happen when the memories of 37 years ago become a little more foggy. I don't know about you, but my brain capacity has a limit. :) But I'll keep writing them as long as you guys keep reading them. :)
1. The jokes and shenanigans of any number of people, Doug Christian, Steve Knox, Allen McNabb, Mike Littleton and Mike Delaney come immediately to mind.
2. Almost daily duels with Mrs Goode and Miss Mize.
3. Frequent walks with Peggy Dunkin.
4. Almost any football game, but especially senior year.
5. Applied Math class with Coach Dutton.
6. Journalizm class with Ann Hunt and Janice Hughes.
7. World History class with Kenny Parks and Jane McCollister.
8. Riding sleds off Hospital Hill with a bunch of people that included Wayne and Allen McNabb and Jane McCollister. This was when we were 16 or 17, not 6 or 7. :)
9. Working with Clyde Wagner and Frog Williams after school, and how gullible ol' Frog was.
10. Drawing Biology pictures for other people, who I'm not going to mention because they turned them in as their own. :)
11. Writing absentee excuses for people because I wrote "like a girl."
12. Driver's Ed.
If you haven't noticed, I'm back. :) My little hiatus is over and I'm back in the rat race. And yes, some of these things have been mentioned before, but that's going to happen when the memories of 37 years ago become a little more foggy. I don't know about you, but my brain capacity has a limit. :) But I'll keep writing them as long as you guys keep reading them. :)
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