I worked with George Brockway for about 10 years building stone walls, patios and porches. As he was approaching his mid seventies he began to slow down a bit. We rarely had music on the job but when on that rare occasion a female vocalist was heard George would always ask in all seriousness "Who's this, Connie Francis?" Pause. "No George, this is not Connie Francis." Eye roll. Back to work.
Fifty years ago today I was getting ready to leave 7th period Gym Class when Larry Featherly approached Bruce Redman, our Phys Ed teacher, and muttered something (and I do mean muttered-if ya knew Larry) I could not hear what Larry said but Bruce said "Nah, you gotta be crazy kid!" I left the locker room still not knowing what Larry said. On the way up to my 3d floor 8th period Earth Science class people kept stopping me saying "Whoa! you're OK! I heard you'd been shot!" They weren't making a joke. They really thought this. I finally got to the science room a bit bewildered when I heard the bad news. I told people about my journey up the stairs from gym class and a few people laughed. The guy sitting next to me, Laurie Norton said "it shoulda been you" As I look back now he was probably right ..but.. of course... thats the way things had to happen.
Historians take note: 40 Years ago today (October 14th) I stuck out my thumb on Rte 20 in Caz and hitchhiked to California again. The geese were flying and Gordon Lightfoot was on the radio. After 5-6 interesting days I arrived in Huntington Beach to spend a week with my Good Cuz Thomas-Nancy Will then up north to Terra Linda to spend a week with Good Cuz Kitty Kennedy. I recall hitching north on Rte 1 that week looking for a place to stay near Bodega Bay when an older woman driving a school bus with 6-7 elementary school kids picked me up and took me north c. 10 miles. We both laughed when a kindergarten boy got off the bus and immediately took a leak. I don't think school buses pick up hitchikers very often today.
I found a boarding house in Tomales owned by artist Byron Randall and stayed there for the winter. Interesting man. Got to know a lot of wonderful people in Tomales. Did a lot of hiking down to the ocean behind the house scaring up Jackrabbits and Black-tailed Deer. Also hiked around Point Reyes National Park. It is a great place. I really enjoyed the natural world along the coast. Dexter had spent the winter in Central America and in the spring we met up in SF, partied a bit, hitched up to Vancouver and the took the Canadian Pacific for a rowdy party ride back east through the Rockies .The dome car was a hard drinking, guitar strumming sing along every night. In the 40 years since there has been much laughter, a bit of sorrow, much hard work and few regrets. Thank You Adventure Maker. I was in love with my kindergarten teacher. Not an unusual thing. I even dreamed about saving her from some dastardly fellow. I remember her being cut by a knife on the upper arm in the dream...but I saved her. Miss Vollmer sure was good looking.
Back at home sometimes my father would sort of tap dance a bit if a catchy tune came on the radio. Sometimes he would just sit there and tap away. As a young lad I thought that was kinda neat. Kindergarten kids at Burton Street School had a mid afternoon rest period when the kids folded their arms on the desk and rested their heads. Sometimes Miss Vollmer would play the piano. This one afternoon I decided to impress my love with a bit of feet tapping of my own. She started playing and I started tapping. We were making beautiful music together! My heart soared as I imagined her glowing reponse. When the song ended she turned around on her piano seat and asked "Who was tapping their feet!". I was about to raise my hand when I noticed a furious look on her face. "Whoever was tapping will be sent down to the principal's office!" I sat there surprised and terrified. My dream had to come to a crashing end! Thankfully nobody in the class said anything. I was stunned. My first but not last disappointment in love. In my junior year of high school Patrick appeared. His large Irish family had moved down from the North Country. Good folks. Patrick, however, could be a bit obnoxious from time to time.
I first met him at lunchtime one day as I was walking down to the Wagon Wheel Soda Shop for lunch. He came up and introduced himself, a big, red faced guy with a big, round head. He shook my hand and said "Who's that guy up there who walks like he's got a pipe up his butt?' It was Mike Dady and Pat said it loud enough so that Mike could hear it. Mike snorted a bit but nothing came of it. That sort of set the tone for Pat's stay at Caz High. Pat could be charming and hilarious but he liked to come across as tough and sarcastic too. He was very sharp and witty. He could also be pretty mean once in a while and unexpectedly kind to underdogs too. Complex guy. Anyway, about a year later Pat stopped at the house to see if I wanted to go to the movies with him. It was a Sunday night in mid December 1966 and not much going on so I said sure. The theater was a five minute walk from my house. We went into the Caz movie theater and, of course, being two guys, we left one or two seats empty between us. The movie was "Follow Me Boys" a Disney tear jerker starring Fred MacMurray. It was about a man who became a well loved Boy Scout leader. The end of the film got pretty sentimental but I braced myself and made sure I did not give in to any emotion. Okay, I may have had a slight eye watering but not much. When the lights came on I felt pretty confident that I was cool and looked over at Pat. WHOA! He was a Mess! Tears were pouring down those big, round red cheeks and there was bit of sobbing. Holy Cow! Pat wanted to walk around town a bit and when he became more composed he told me that he had had a scout leader in the North Country who was great guy and had suddenly died leaving the community up there stunned and grieving. Oohh, So that explained his hyper emotional response.... Well, maybe. Anyway, I saw a different side of Pat that night that surprised me a bit. I was always glad to see Pat whenever we bumped into each other as the years passed. Always some laughter and good stories. Sure do miss him. |