Category: Uncategorized

Or, ‘Karma Bites the hand of the Powerful’ While I grant you that it must have been a bitch to think of things to do with 50+ kids throughout the winter, you can’t just wing it as your passions dictate. One day he was in ‘THE mood’, and decided the boys were going to do… Continue reading Elementary Gym Class II: The Saga of Cold Steel and Warm Flesh

“What devil art thou that dost torment me thus? This torture should be roar’d in dismal hell.” Our auditorium doubled as our gym.  Useless basketball nets on both sides of the room–you couldn’t even contemplate getting a ball up there until at least fifth grade..  That was it. The stage took up half of the… Continue reading Ahhhh, Gym Class (everybody sigh with pleasure)

When She’s Collecting S&H Green Stamps, of course! You didn’t live through the 60’s without being intimate with Green Stamps. Though they were hardly a new ‘thang’, grocery stores/supermarkets (even gas stations!) used Green Stamps as promotional items to get women in the door. “In the beginning”……………..a separate dispenser sat on top of the cash… Continue reading Riddle Me This, Batman: When is a Stamp Collector NOT a Philatelist?

Weird Scenes in Dark Hallways Before I go on, yes, we had the nuclear explosion drill–first and second grade. Get under your desk, cover your head. You’d exchange goofy looks with your friends, the girls would giggle and smile at you. Of course, that first grade teacher didn’t take no mess, so if you laughed,… Continue reading Elementary School Rituals–the Strange and the Wacky

Sometimes The Field just didn’t cut it! There comes a time when running barefoot through the weeds isn’t enough. With no playground or pool, where does a poor little baby-boomer-to-be hang out?  Well, the corner store became the fallback.  There was a huge parking lot and plenty of room near the store to park your… Continue reading A Guide to Hanging Out in Far Suburbia

“Books are a uniquely portable magic”–Stephen King Those trips to the children’s library and the cheap supermarket books paid dividends once I started school. You didn’t have tell me twice to read out loud. I don’t remember much about titles except “Cupcakes or Rocks?” and “Scat Scat Little Cat”. Supposedly, I loved a book about… Continue reading Reading–I caught the bug!

‘Fire and Flame to Suburbs come in the year Nineteen and Sixty-Three’ There was a mountain west of me that, at the turn of century, folks visited to ‘take the waters’ that were allegedly curative. The landscape was dominated by three huge hotels that together could house thousands at one time. All had spacious horse… Continue reading With Apologies to Al Stewart…

‘Father Knows Best’?? Ha! If Daddy didn’t talk during dinner, no one spoke. Children should be seen and not heard. A friend of mine called this male parenting ‘benign neglect.’ Hands off and hope for the best. Sometimes he’d vent about a co-worker, but usually those stories were saved until I left the table. Much… Continue reading The Angry King at rest: 5:30-?

Or, as dad called me–“Him” I think in third grade, I got signed up for bowling after school around twice a month for half the year. We got on a bus right as school ended and we were schlepped to the nearest alley, which was 30 minutes away–don’t forget we were close to nothing. Riding… Continue reading So, What did the kid do after school?

Last call for smiles. Until 5th grade, I got picked up most of the time and mom often had an agenda. Supermarket, bank, dry cleaners, department store…………wait a minute! Department store?! Yes, the change from back country to suburb was underway! We got a large store only around 5 miles from the house, and mom… Continue reading 3-5:30: A Mom and Her Music