Steekee Creek

Have you ever considered the impact of Steekee Creek on Loudon?  I mean think about it, for such a small, meandering little stream, it has a significant role in the area.

Where it enters into the river is the only boat ramp on the river for miles in either direction.
More than one church had baptisms at that same spot.
A friend of mine drowned at the mouth of the creek.
It divides Loudon from Mexico, or the hospital hill area.
It swells into two small lakes before it goes into the river.
The lake closest to the river is the better fishing lake and also used to hold the houseboats of local families.
In the time before air conditioners it cooled a wide swath of Loudon.
The creek and it's bed serves as built in flood control.
It used to be the ball field boundary for left field and part of center field.
I almost drowned by the rocks just opposite left field.  David Ridings pulled me out.
It had some of the best crawdads.
It served as a watering hole for countless cows and crops between the river and a good 5 to 6 miles back into the valley.
I know of at least two fresh water springs that bubble up into it.
It was a playground for countless boys and girls who grew up around there, and was where a lot of them learned to swim.

That old creek is a good friend to a lot of us.

Another Twenty Questions

Who is at the top of your list to see at the reunion? 
Among those you want to see, who haven't you seen in the longest time? 
Would it ever be possible to have a 100% turn out of those who are still living? 
If you are not going to the reunion, why not?
Are you staying at the hotel after the reunion?  I am.
Does anyone live closer to the hotel than Brenda, Kathey and Sylvia?  (I think they said they live close.)
Is it still looked down on in Loudon to drink?
Have you paid for it yet?
Are you bringing your significant other?
There's going to be a DJ.  Will you dance?
Are you getting excited about it?
How far do you have to travel to get there?
Are you going to be early, on time, or socially late?
Which has changed the most -- Loudon, Lenoir City, Philadelphia or Vonore?
Which has changed the least -- Loudon, Lenoir Cityr, Philadelphia or Vonore?
Are you going to the football game on Friday night?
When was the last time you were at a football game in Loudon?
When was the last time you were at the high school?
Which will you do more - laugh or cry?
Will you cry at all?

The Home Stretch

For four years now the most common subject on the blog has been the reunion.  (Okay, so I have a one track mind :))  Anyway, it is closer than we think.  Almost 2 months, and like Delphia said, I'm getting excited.  I am honestly looking forward to cracks about my grey hair, my wrinkles and my weight.  At least I will know I was remembered.  Now wait, wasn't meant to sound forlorn, it's just that even something like that means something... well, as long as they don't throw in an S.O.B with it.

I was thinking the other night that this rickety old blog has just about petered out.  Sort of KBFB, but I'm okay with it.  Doesn't mean that I will stop posting things.  It does mean that I can change the subject a little and who knows, I might even let a zinger or two go that I've been telling myself isn't meant to be posted here.  Nah.  Those are still safe with me.

I am looking forward to seeing all you regulars so much.  It's going to be odd walking into a reunion and have all these rekindled friendships.  At most of the other reunions I had to relearn everybody, and they had to relearn me.

"I have been, and always will be, your friend."  --  Spock

A Look Back - June 1970

June 1 – Soyuz 9, a two man spacecraft, is launched in the Soviet Union.

June 2 – Norway announces that it has rich oil deposits off its North Sea coast.

June 4 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.

June 5 -- The Loudon High School Class of 1970 graduates

June 6 – A D-Day celebration is held in Washington, D.C..

June 7 – The Who become the first act to perform rock music (their rock opera, Tommy) at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.

June 8 – A coup in Argentina brings a new junta of service chiefs; on June 18, Roberto M. Levingston becomes President.

June 10 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs a measure lowering the voting age to 18.

June 11 – The United States gets its first female generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington.

June 12 – N.D.F.L.O.A.G. guerrillas attack military garrisons at Izki and Nizwa in Oman.

June 18 – United Kingdom general election, 1970: the Conservative Party wins and Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister.

June 21 -- Brazil defeats Italy 4–1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
             -- Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy, largest ever US corporate bankruptcy up to this date.

June 24 – The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

June 28 – U.S. ground troops withdraw from Cambodia

Do You Dream?

Of course you do.  We all dream at least a little.  I don't know whether it's my age or my meds, but lately I've had some really good ones.  The kind that when you wake up you want try to etch it in your mind so you can remember it for awhile, even though it seems like some of the best ones are the ones you can't grab quick enough to remember.  The ones that flutter away with the alarm clock, forever to be gone.

I had one the other night that I thought was a bit unusual.  We were at the reunion -- all of us -- and I could see everybody as they look now, or I guess the way my dream world thinks they should look.  There was gray hair and wrinkles and pudginess everywhere, and I knew exactly who everyone was, even though they had changed.

I'm not sure what Freud would make out of that.  Acceptance of my age?  A sign that no matter how much we cling to memories of the "good old days", they are just memories, not reality?  That my subconscious has a firmer grasp of things than my consciousness?  I don't know.  But I remember a few of them so it's going to be interesting to see how close my dream classmates are to the real ones I'll at the reunion.