I always appreciate feedback from my fans (as long as it's positive) J  Over the years as well as recently, I continue to get the most feedback from my school stories. I guess we all can identify with events in school when we were kids. Since my devoted fans seem to like this subject, this is another installment of my School "Daze" Series.

 

In 1953 when I was 5, I started in the first grade. I was so intelligent that I skipped going to kindergarten and instead started the first grade when 6 was the normal age. Well, OK, they didn't have kindergarten in those days. If they did, no doubt they would have started me in the first grade at 5 anyway. It is highly unlikely that they wanted to put up with me for 13 years when 12 were way more than enough. Incidentally, this was the only time Tim and I were in the same classroom. After the first grade, they always assigned us to different classrooms. I guess if 12 years of me weren't scary enough, 12 years of both Tim and me in the same classroom filled the school officials with unspeakable terror.

 

In 1954 while I was in the first grade, they also started work on the Ohio Turnpike section that went through Berlin Heights.  There were all kinds of swell equipment for a young boy to gaze at. My favorite thing was cranes. I was always mesmerized watching them lift things like long pieces of steel.  Among all the fascinating sites and sounds, the best of all was to feel the vibrations of the blasting with TNT, not to mention the big noise!  When it was detonated, I could feel the vibrations in the ground under my feet. I have never experienced an earthquake, but I imagine the effect is the same. I always had the yarning to have some TNT to play with which to me was analogous to having a giant firecracker. Could you imagine me with TNT as a kid, or even as an adult! The thought of that is frightening even to me!

 

During the time they were using TNT or dynamite if you prefer, one effect was noted. One morning as we entered our first grade room, we immediately noticed that the green blackboard located along the entire east wall to the right of the door was totally shattered. There were hundreds of small jagged shards laying all over the classroom floor about the size of an adult thumbnail.  Mrs. Hahn, our first grade teacher, then herded all of us out of the room to wait in the hall while our janitor "Spoolie" swept up the hundreds of small jagged pieces.  All of us, more than likely just we guys, thought it was exciting to see this. Although we kids didn't know what caused this, we later heard that it was the result of all the blasting on the Turnpike construction.

 

Before Mrs. Hahn herded us out of the room, I hurried over to see some of the jagged shards of the blackboard strewn about the floor. I have always regretted the fact that I didn't pick up one of the pieces. I was very surprised at what I found. Although the blackboard was green, I always assumed it was made out of rock. To my surprise, the pieces were thick opaque glass covered with a thin layer of green material of unknown origin. The space on the wall where the board was looked like some form of particleboard and was the same color as a grocery bag. The next morning when we entered the room, the space had been covered with brown paper with wide masking tape at each seam. I was never sure of the reason the space was covered since it had wood where the board was mounted.

 

Now, you may be thinking that this event was very advantageous to us since with no blackboard, Mrs. Hahn couldn't teach us anything until it was replaced. Alas, no such luck because there was another blackboard along the whole wall on the south side of the room! A conspiracy no doubt by the principal to have a spare blackboard in case one was put out of action as the other one was.

 

I'm trying to recall how long it was until the shattered blackboard was finally replaced. I recall that it took some time. One morning as we entered the room, we noticed there was a new blackboard. For quite awhile I was hoping they would do more blasting for the Turnpike that perhaps would take both blackboards out.  Alas, no such luck since by that time the turnpike construction moved further down away from us and out of TNT blasting range. At times when it was quiet in our room, I could hear the distant sound of blasting. Unfortunately, I no longer felt the neat ground vibrations. Oh, well, I suppose it was a good thing we eventually had both blackboards or otherwise I may have never learned to print and to find out that 2+2 =4 and how to spell dog and cat. All and all, that was very fortunate since to this day I might have always spelled dog as "dahg" or cat as "kat" and that 2+2=5. Hey! Wait a minute! That is the way kids spell and do math these days. The likely reason for this is that their first grade blackboards shattered from some teenager playing "jungle music" in their pickups at a high bass volume and the resulting vibrations caused their blackboards to shatter. With the lack of adequate school funding these days they could not afford to have the blackboards replaced.  That sounds like a plausible theory to me. This would in turn cause "shattered" dreams, which one can "chalk" up to experience. I just can't resist a corny ending can I? That's because I have just enough Irish in me to make me witty, and just enough German to make me stubborn, and just enough English to make me daffy.

 

I must go now and do chores, so Corn Flake for now. Whoops, I mean Cheerio for now. See, the English in me makes me daffy.