OCTOBER FROM LONG AGO
I remember well how it was back then. Going to school everyday and walking one mile to get there. It was a one-room school with two outhouses and one teacher for grades 1 thru 5. We got our drinking water from a spring across the creek. It was dispensed from a churn-like container with a spigot to which the teacher added one tablespoon of clorox. In the back of the room stood a pot belly stove. A lot of the boys would sit around the stove and one in particular would get too hot and pass out. His name was Joe and the class would sometimes sing the song “Old Black Joe” and that would precipitate another blackout once in awhile. I remember once that my friend and I decided to climb to the top of the mountain in front of the school. We climbed and climbed but gave up on being able to see what was on the other side. After coming back down the teacher made us wash our feet in the creek and then she gave us a few good licks with the paddle. My mother had a few words with her for having our feet in the cold water.
At the beginning of the school year we were given a bar of lifeboy soap, toothbrush and toothpaste. Each morning we had to have inspection. We also did the pledge of allegiance. Playing baseball was our favorite game for recess and lunch hour. Sometimes the girls would play “pretty girl station”.
Well that was October 60 years ago. It is so much different now. Although much better now, back then we didn’t have to worry about school shootings and violence and predators.