I do have some things to do before company on Thursday so I will get some of those things done today.
We have a wonderful weather day. I did bike over to the courts just in case someone was short a player and the air was refreshing as I think the temp was in the 60s.
The first thing I need to do is cut two holes in the wall of the guest bedroom. I mounted a TV on the wall and now need to put the cords through the wall and down so when one looks at the TV you do not see these cords hanging down. All the cords are long enough except the plug in so maybe a short 3 foot extension cord is needed for that.
Stages of Life---4th grade--8th grade
This was a difficult time for me. I was big for my age. I think I may have been a head taller than most of the guys in my grade.
basketball team when I was 7th grade
In the back row 55 is 2 years older, 8, 77 and 33 are one year older
I did not know it at the time but I had to defend myself, I think, because I was from the farm and was big. Early in 5th grade I was jumped by two 6th graders as I was getting on the bus. I dealt with both of them on separate occasions later in the week and that pretty much put an end to harassment.
In 5th and 6th grade I dealt with being a severe stutterer. I would say that this was maybe the most difficult thing I ever had to deal with. Mom and Dad did all sorts of things to help, they thought. They tried to get me to bed earlier, they tried to change the way I ate. Really did scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs or fried eggs make a difference??? Did going to bed at 7:00 rather than 8:30 make a difference??? Really I do not know BUT whatever it was actually made a difference. With help from Mom, Dad and God by the time I finished 7th grade it was pretty much gone. I would say a miracle for sure.
For some reason many in my grade and the grade above were not into school in ANY way. That was difficult as I just did not understand that.
Cayuga high school closed as I finished 6th grade so as 7th graders and 8 graders we were the oldest. Actually that was fun.
There were several guys in the grade ahead of me that were more into mischief than school. More than once I got involved for NO good reason but at that age one does not want to be the lone hold out so to speak.
During those years I often wanted to be one of the TOWN guys. In the fall and in the spring I would watch out of the bus window as we drove away and all the town guys were getting ready for a ball game!
Because of my size I usually was the strongest and usually better at sports than my classmates. I have already mentioned that I was the only one in my grade to hit a ball up to the second floor window and break it!!!
I became an avid reader while in the 7th and 8th grade. Mrs. Odenbret said we needed to read 25 books and hand in a report on them by the end of the year. For me, by the end of the year, I had handed in over 100 book reports. Perhaps a big % of those were "Black Stallion" books!
It was in 7th grade that I got on the basketball court for the first time. It was a painful learning experience. I had a great shot as I had practiced MUCH on the farm in the hay barn and by the light post near the barn. However the floor of the hay barn and the dirt around the basketball outdoor hoop did not lend itself well to dribbling skills!!! Even as I played in high school I felt I did very very well with shooting, boxing out and basketball savvy BUT the dribbling part never came with polished skill!
As I look back at this stage of my life I think two things made it difficult. First I lived 10 miles from Cayuga so much of the play time the town kids had I just was not part of. This often made me feel like an outsider. The second thing was how my body grew. I just grew up so much faster than my peers. As a freshman in high school I was 5' 11", 170 pounds and full grown. As an 4-8 grader I just was not only bigger and stronger but for some reason my thoughts were often more mature or so it seemed to me. I was in Boy Scouts during that time and many of the things we did just seemed so so silly. In our adult life now I see Larry from time to time. Once in our conversation he mentioned that in his mind he often felt that I was a man among boys. I am sure that did NOT come across in my behavior often but in many other ways.
So in the fall of 1961 I prepared to enter high school and a whole new world. Little did I know how much life would change. In high school I discovered girls. I learned that there is such a thing as studying. I found out that there certainly were others who were serious about school and were much smarter than I. I found out that I was not even close to the tallest player in sports. I learned that it seemed people actually liked me. However I NEVER, in high school, came out of my shell in terms of social skills. THAT CAME MUCH MUCH LATER IN LIFE.
Time to get to work. My FP is gone and my breakfast sandwich of a bagel, ham, egg and cheese has given me much needed energy for the day ahead so I will sign off.
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