Timed writing
May. 22nd, 2020 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jdmkleinBook of myself
early years
This was a particularly dangerous thing I did with a friend.
In my junior year of high school, I was in love with Fred Burger and he with me, at the same time, finally. Fred and I had lived in the same neighborhood since the third grade. I loved him every spring and summer and hated him during the autumn and winter. I honestly thought I would marry him, but alas, he took back his ring the day after he graduated left for California, and I have not seen or heard of him since. I have always wondered what happened to him.
I digress. Charlie Shover also lived in my neighborhood, right across the alley from Fred. Charlie had a car and he would pick up Fred and me every morning for school and bring me home after. Charlie was a car nut, Fred was a motorcycle man. I was the third wheel of the group. They showed me how to change the oil in a car, change the battery, and spark plugs. I even helped remove and replace the transmission in Charlie's 1964 Chevelle.
We had great fun together. During my time with the boys, I also learned the joys of skipping school. When I left Sacred Heart and started going to a public school, I would write all of Mother's illness excuses. She was busy getting ready to go to work at the Waterloo Courier every morning along with trying to get us kids dressed and fed and out the door to school at the same. came in very handy in high school.
Once Charlie and Fred and I drove down to Anamosa, Iowa where Charlie's family was from. It was an all-day trip. We had enough time to cruise the strip in Anamosa a couple of times, get a bite to eat and head back home. That was all good fun, except that the trips down the main drag of town got us caught by Charlie's uncle. The uncle called Charlie's mother and he was in a load of trouble when we got home. That was a fun trip.
The most dangerous thing I did when I was young was with Fred and Charlie. We went to the river, which was flooded, but not dangerously so and took our first swim of the year. I don't remember the exact location but I think it was near Finchford, north of Cedar Falls. It was not a planned adventure, we just happened to end up there during our ride.
We got out of the car, the boys gave me the undressing room behind a fallen tree. They went into the water first and turned their backs while I walked down to the water and went in near a fallen tree by the shore. When I said the river wasn't dangerously flooded, I meant that it wasn't out of its banks. This was in the early spring, sometime in May. We didn't realize how cold that river water would be. We also didn't realize how strong the current would be. We were all swept away by the rushing water. The boys were able to grab my hands and the three of us together were able to make it back to the riverbank, about 100 feet from where we had gone in. We were cold and scared and happy, and silly, and stupid in those days. We were only aware that we had made it back to shore so none of us would be in trouble at home.
We were faced with a puzzle when we made it safely back to the shore of the river. Our clothes were about 30 yards upriver and we were all naked. We got out of the water, covered out private bits with our hands, and headed back to our clothes. We had to sit in the sun to warm up and dry off before we could get dressed. We sat there in the sun discussing our adventure until we were warmed and dry. We got dressed and went back to the job of skipping school for the rest of the day. I don't know about Charlie and Fred, but I never told a soul what we did.
Oh, those were the young and innocent days of my youth. There was no hanky panky while we were sitting there naked in the sun. I wonder if it would be the same today.
early years
This was a particularly dangerous thing I did with a friend.
In my junior year of high school, I was in love with Fred Burger and he with me, at the same time, finally. Fred and I had lived in the same neighborhood since the third grade. I loved him every spring and summer and hated him during the autumn and winter. I honestly thought I would marry him, but alas, he took back his ring the day after he graduated left for California, and I have not seen or heard of him since. I have always wondered what happened to him.
I digress. Charlie Shover also lived in my neighborhood, right across the alley from Fred. Charlie had a car and he would pick up Fred and me every morning for school and bring me home after. Charlie was a car nut, Fred was a motorcycle man. I was the third wheel of the group. They showed me how to change the oil in a car, change the battery, and spark plugs. I even helped remove and replace the transmission in Charlie's 1964 Chevelle.
We had great fun together. During my time with the boys, I also learned the joys of skipping school. When I left Sacred Heart and started going to a public school, I would write all of Mother's illness excuses. She was busy getting ready to go to work at the Waterloo Courier every morning along with trying to get us kids dressed and fed and out the door to school at the same. came in very handy in high school.
Once Charlie and Fred and I drove down to Anamosa, Iowa where Charlie's family was from. It was an all-day trip. We had enough time to cruise the strip in Anamosa a couple of times, get a bite to eat and head back home. That was all good fun, except that the trips down the main drag of town got us caught by Charlie's uncle. The uncle called Charlie's mother and he was in a load of trouble when we got home. That was a fun trip.
The most dangerous thing I did when I was young was with Fred and Charlie. We went to the river, which was flooded, but not dangerously so and took our first swim of the year. I don't remember the exact location but I think it was near Finchford, north of Cedar Falls. It was not a planned adventure, we just happened to end up there during our ride.
We got out of the car, the boys gave me the undressing room behind a fallen tree. They went into the water first and turned their backs while I walked down to the water and went in near a fallen tree by the shore. When I said the river wasn't dangerously flooded, I meant that it wasn't out of its banks. This was in the early spring, sometime in May. We didn't realize how cold that river water would be. We also didn't realize how strong the current would be. We were all swept away by the rushing water. The boys were able to grab my hands and the three of us together were able to make it back to the riverbank, about 100 feet from where we had gone in. We were cold and scared and happy, and silly, and stupid in those days. We were only aware that we had made it back to shore so none of us would be in trouble at home.
We were faced with a puzzle when we made it safely back to the shore of the river. Our clothes were about 30 yards upriver and we were all naked. We got out of the water, covered out private bits with our hands, and headed back to our clothes. We had to sit in the sun to warm up and dry off before we could get dressed. We sat there in the sun discussing our adventure until we were warmed and dry. We got dressed and went back to the job of skipping school for the rest of the day. I don't know about Charlie and Fred, but I never told a soul what we did.
Oh, those were the young and innocent days of my youth. There was no hanky panky while we were sitting there naked in the sun. I wonder if it would be the same today.
