§ School Days Past...

I'm an early riser, so during the quiet times before any one else woke up for the day, I sat at the computer and this time around, I drew a self portrait using a photo as a guide. Looking through old photos this past weekend, I found a high school photo saved among all the rest. It was of me in my Junior year. 54 years ago?!! Whoa. Anyway, I sat down and sketched. Once done, I put it on the computer, and then inserted the original photo for comparison. Now, I share it...

Erik left for Houston late on Sunday after a four day stay with us.  I will work today on getting the house cleaned and I have to go to the store to replenish food stuffs.  Otherwise, I'm back online.  Probably a bit sporadic at first...but, back to blogging none-the-less. Thanks for all the well wishes from everyone! Much appreciated, and I read all the comments left for me...you made my day.

§ Days of Yesteryear....

Remember the cartoons of yesteryear? With the likes of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Heckle and Jekyl, Mighty Mouse, etc. etc.? What went wrong with cartoons of today? They're all either too wishy-washy sweet, or too violent with crime, not to mention the evil computer games with so many that has the game played to the death!!   No comedy any more, what-so-ever.  Even stand up comedy has an evil side [Kathy Griffin comes to mind].  I miss Saturday Morning cartoons. Laughter is good medicine. Anyway, the purpose of my opening line is, ... yes, the cartoons of yesteryear! How many times were there airplanes in the cartoons depicted with faces such as this one. Which brings me to the photo I took while out on the beach, walking. I've been terribly influenced from Mel Blanc, Chuck Jones, and Walt Disney....I saw the Coast Guard plane, and immediately saw the smiling face!!!!


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Then an old movie. Oftentimes when Bud and I witness a huge amount of vehicles leaving the same area at one time, like when a concert if over, or a ball game and the cars are vying for a space near the exit gates we think of IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD movie with a cast of 1000s with the likes of Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Edie Adams, Ethel Merman and more...A short synopsis of the flick is: When Jimmy Durante has an accident on a California Highway, he's dying after going over a cliff and confesses where he hid money from an unsolved robbery. The witnesses hear the confession and then, all head to where the money is hidden....near a "BIG W"!! It's hilarious. [circa 1963 - from wikipedia claims of attempts to produce a remake of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World have circulated, but no film producers have officially confirmed a contract despite attempts] Anyway, when I see something that resembles a "W",  the hidden treasure of yesteryear comes to mind. I saw one the other day. In our own back yard...

photo of the big W from the movie set

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Thinking of days gone by, I remember as a child, when we'd head along the interstate highway 80 [it wasn't interstate when I was young] to Lincoln, Nebraska from our Colorado home, where my father's sister lived. Getting closer and closer to Lincoln, in the vast farmland off the roads, we'd see an old red one room school building. My aunt taught classes there, just like Ms. Beadle on the TV series, Little House on the Prairie. The photo of the school you see is the actual school taken long long long ago. I haven't been along I-80 in decades, so I don't know if it [the school]  is still in existence. But, when I was looking for one of my photos of that mountain along the front range to sketch it, I came across the picture of the school and reminisced of yesteryear, when I was a youngster traveling to visit Aunt Mary. Oh, and unlike now-a-days, when teachers need a college degree, my aunt only had a high school education and taught grades 1-8 when most farm children stopped their education to work the family's farmland and carry on with tradition.

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One more thought on the term of yesteryear and school...

This past week I received a letter in the mailbox. On the envelope, it had my high school logo on the return address. I hadn't even thought of it for so, so many years now. After getting the house chores done, I sat down and opened the letter. Holy Cow....it's my high school 50 year class reunion!! Good lord, has it been that long ago? Yep, it has. In fact 50 years ago on May 31st I was free for the summer to travel. 50 years ago, I got a gift to fly to our nation's capital and spend a little over a month there, hanging out on "D" Street, just a few blocks from the capitol. I took off work in June and returned in August....after many days living and learning of our nation's politics, government, visiting sites with the likes of Iwo Jima, climbing to the top of Washington Monument, spending 3 days at the Smithsonian Institute, privileged to witness the Senate via the underground subway to the Chambers, the Pentagon, the FBI. Not to mention a trip down the Potomac River on a riverboat excursion. Custis Lee Mansion, etc. etc.. Oh so many good times, so many good memories. Anyway, the letter had a list of activities planned in August ... nothing worth making a special trip to attend. Golf? Dancing? Heck, I can do that HERE!! Sure, I'd be able to see some classmates, but really....I'm sure it would be "You haven't changed a bit?" "You have HOW MANY grandkids?" "I've been divorced, married three times." That sorta thing. I'm just not into that kinda stuff.  The photo is a conglomerate of the letter received, my 1967 class photo album and the page cut where I am [outlined photo on the insert].