Monday, February 26, 2007
Crazy Things That We Did
Trooper Walsh was an 8th grader in 1966-67 who, it was rumored, had an uncle who was the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. Trooper and Terry Victor and a few others would spend time in the woods near the duck pond searching for salamanders and the occasional snake; blacksnake, hognose, garter snake, etc. Sometime during the winter of 1967, I switched rooms from room 21 to room 20 and left Paul Ellis' reign as room officer to Gibby Gahan's. The bell that rang at 9:30 for Middle School lights out was a long bell and you weren't in trouble unless you weren't in bed with the lights out by the time that the bell stopped ringing. I had a habit of dashing from across the hall to my top bunk where I jumped into bed and turned off the light switch at the same time. I lost that habit when one night as I jumped into bed, something coiled around my leg and I quickly knew it was a snake, one that either Terry or Trooper had caught in the woods. Somehow, no one got in trouble, but I've hated snakes ever since.
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2 comments:
Wally -
In 7th grade, you & I roomed together in the short hall in the Allan Bldg dorm, with Room Officer Paul Ellis and Ken Betz. That was a special collection of people and a fun year. You & Ken were bright as hell but different as day & night. Ellis was a sharp guy with great leadership ability. Ken's back-lit electric alarm clock comforted us as a night light. 'Good Vibrations' was a hit on our transister radios thanks to WCAO. You were quite the practical joker. You & Paul shared a closet. When he got dressed in the morning, you would shove him inside (no minor task) and lock him in. Paul eventually returned the favor. Also, whenever Paul climbed into his top bunk, you would try (sometimes successfully) to bounce him out of it from below. I remember Ellis paying you back by hauling you & your mattress onto the floor. That winter, I caught an intestinal flu and puked all over my bunk and the wall next to it at about 2 AM. The infirmery kept me for the next several days. You guys cleaned up my mess.
Fred,
The time that Paul paid me back was the snowy morning where school was cancelled and he was leaning over to tell me to be quiet. For the first and only time in my life, I succeeded in launching him out of the bed by pushing both feet against his bunk mattress. That was when he pulled me and the mattress out and told me to stay there. I was lucky that was all that he did.
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