Map of Narnia, Map of Narnia…
Oh all right, I’ll do the blasted baby boomer meme:
4th grade, Stinkin’ Lincoln School, Sault Ste. Siberia (okay, I’ll be honest, I didn’t start calling it “Stinkin’ Lincoln” until Vern said that at a high school reunion a while back).
Mrs. Scott had gone to the office and when she returned, she made a dramatic entry and said with a shaking voice, “The president has been shot.”
BANG! Patty McKerchie tipped her chair over. Obviously this was an event that provided a good opportunity to knock your chair over without getting in trouble.
KW? Well, KW was not ‘fessing up to the fact that she had a horrible sore throat and probably a fever.
We were let go early (imagine that in this day and age) and KW and a friend trudged through a chilly rain (a lot like today, actually) to a play date at the friend’s house. KW did not have a particularly good time. She didn’t feel well and this was a third-string friend.
KW eventually trudged home in the gathering gloom and spent the ensuing long weekend recovering from her virus and feeling sorry for herself because it was now snowing and all the other neighborhood kids were outside sledding and building snowmen and having all sorts of fun.
“We” didn’t vote for JFK. We were a Republican family in those days. Oh, not that anyone in my family was less than absolutely horrified that the president had been assassinated. The GOP eventually moved too far to the right for our comfort level and we [mostly] don’t vote for them any more. Actually, my old coot got to the point where he was so disgusted with all polly-tishuns (“blue dress”, “stick it”, etc.) that he didn’t want to vote for anyone although I’m sure The Commander told him which levers to pull. It’s anybody’s guess whether or not he actually pulled those levers.
C. S. Lewis died the same day JFK did. I didn’t have any clue who C. S. Lewis was in those days but he sure provided many hours of entertainment to me and the beach urchins later on as I read the Chronicles of Narnia aloud to them and we watched the BBC (I think) movies.
That’s two who died 50 years ago. My high school classmate and long-time captain of the Lake Michigan car-ferry Badger, none other than Cap’n Hobbs, died unexpectedly last night. He was playing hockey at the time. He loved playing hockey. What a way to go. I don’t know if this link to the Badger’s page will work or not. This is one of the good things about facebook. If I had not connected with Dean and other high school folks a few years ago, I would never have known that he died. In fact, I wouldn’t have known that he was the Badger captain and I may well have not attended our last high school reunion and talked to him in person there. Godspeed Cap’n Hobbs. Class A person.
We had a wonderful time at the Oscar Tango tonight and kept our fav-o-rite waitress busy, as you can probably guess. (I didn’t do it.)
G’night.
November 22nd, 2013 at 11:20 pm
I was home sick from school and the news came over the radio. My mom cried, the first time I ever remember her doing so, thus it had a huge impact on me. Sadly, if it were now, some people would celebrate, no matter which president was in office. Makes me sick.
November 23rd, 2013 at 9:46 am
I don’t know if it was the car ferry Badger or another in 1982, but given the longevity of ships, it probably was. We sailed on the car ferry from Ludington, MI to Sheboygan, WI on our big cross-country bike trip. There was a large group on board who’d come over from Wisconsin on the morning ship to play golf, shop, and party in Michigan. They were returning on the evening ship, and had even hired a band. I think they were Optimists, or the Rotary. In any case, we were talking with them and they asked us if we had a place to stay that night. “Oh no, we usually just find a place as we go.” “You may have a problem, then. There’s a big fishing tournament this weekend, and all the motels and campgrounds are filled up.” After a few minutes of private conversation between the husband and the wife, they came back to us, and offered us their backyard to set up our tent. We accepted with relief. When we pulled into Sheboygan, they gave us directions to their house, as they had to take a school bus to where the group’s cars were parked. By the time we got to their house, they said, “It’s so late, why don’t you just stay in our guest room. You’ll need to get up early, since we go to church early, but it will be a lot easier than setting up your tent in the dark.” So we did, and after a 6:00 breakfast and many thanks for their hospitality, we were on our way. I think we made it a couple of miles to a county park, where we napped on the picnic table benches for a little bit before pressing on.
Rest in Peace, Captain Hobbs