Friday’s Feast #126

Appetizer

What comes to mind when you see the color orange?

BigBob had a 1973 Datsun pick-up. It was pumpkin orange and had a lot of miles on it, but it kept going and going a la the Eveready Bunny! It was cheap, reliable transportation for him to drive to work and came in handy when we needed to transport something. It held sentimental value for him because he purchased it new and later sold it to his father. His mother gave it back to BigBob after his father died.

One night, #1 son fell asleep in his car seat, so we swapped cars: BigBob took him home in my car and I took the pick-up to school. I came out when class was over, keys in my hand, and walked over to the spot right under the streetlight when I had parked it.

It was gone.

I thought, “Oh, #1 son woke up, so they took a little ride and brought back my car!” But I didn’t see it. So I called home and when I woke BigBob up, I knew …

“Where is my car?” He said, “In the garage! You have the pick-up, remember?” I didn’t enjoy telling him that I did not, in fact, have it any longer.

After about three days, the police called. What was left of it had been towed and BigBob insisted on going to look at it. The thieves had taken everything they could strip off, including the nob for the gear shift. The towing company bought the pink slip for the value of the scrap metal.

It is a very creepy feeling to know that you left a vehicle somewhere, but find yourself standing there with the key — and no ignition in which to insert it!

Soup

Did you ever get in trouble while you were in school? If so, what was it for?

Yes, I most certainly did!

More than once!

But this is the most vivid memory: There is, of course, an age requirement to start kindergarten. I missed the cut-off date by 21 days. So all of my friends started school and I recall standing in the doorway, waving to them and crying.

Fast forward a couple of years to first grade. I was bored out of my mind because I was older than many of the other kids in my class. And I had been ready to start kindergarten when my friends did, so I needed to be challenged. The teacher was pretty old and, obviously, not very creative. When I finished my work, she used to send me outside to walk around the playground. I walked and walked around the circles painted on the blacktop. Around and around and around until she would finally allow me to come back in. After I finished my work, she’d send me out again.

Can you imagine dealing with a first grader that way?

We were supposed to take a book home each night, read it, and have out parent sign a form verifying that we did. I used to take several home. She set up a contest to see which student could read the most books over the course of the school year and I really wanted to win (I can’t remember if there was a prize involved).

I guess she thought that either I was forging the notes or my mother was just signing them without paying any attention to what I was doing. In any event, she sent a note home to my mother, questioning whether I was really reading all those books. Bad idea. (I read the books aloud to my mother every night.) Boy, did my mother ever respond! I still have that note somewhere … it concluded with, “If you don’t think she can actually read as well as I’m telling you she can, why don’t you have her read the books to you?” She did. And then she sent home another note in which she apologized.

By the time I got to third grade, the teacher and principal decided that trying to keep me occupied was futile. So about six weeks into the school year, they walked me down the hall to the fourth grade classroom and that was that. My mother taught me cursive writing at home in the evenings so I would be able to keep up with the other kids. And that is why I was 17 when I graduated from high school.

Salad

Which topping(s) make up your perfect pizza?

Canadian bacon and mushrooms, or ground beef and red onions. Yum!

Main Course

Do you believe in UFOs/aliens/etc.? Why or why not?

Sure, although I’ve never seen any.

If we’re here, why is it so hard to believe that they’re out there somewhere?

Dessert

What color is your bedspread/comforter/quilt?

Antique rose, forest green, and ivory. I just love this picture! The day I bought my camera, I was running around the house taking pictures. BigBob and Matthew were in the bedroom, so Matthew dove under the covers and BigBob put a pillow over his head to hide from the lens!