Do you remember a beautiful summer day when we were in your bedroom listening to an afternoon Pirates game? We were keeping score on homemade scorecards. Your Mom came in and was not very pleased with how we were occupying our time. She immediately chased us outdoors to do something more productive.
I remember playing baseball in your backyard to the point where the bases were worn down dirt spots. The left field line was marked by those small trees over the hill towards Cummings (where Joanne and the girls would play) . Seems like we outgrew hardball and were only allowed to play wiffle ball at some point.
There was a very large rope swing from a tall tree in the back of Putzie's property. I guess for George Putzie and the older kids. You were swinging on it and dropped something. I can't remember what - a pocket knife? There were three of us looking all over the grass for it. Then you got the idea to retrace your swinging pattern and you did spot the object but lost your grip and fell hard and lay motionless. I thought you were dead. Seems like someone's mother came out to help you. Do you remember that?
What about helping Dr Aruffo build the wall in front the Aruffo/Chesley house with those huge stones from the Civil War Arsenal? They had a large garden planted behind it. Any memory of the kids up on Farmview? Kenny Hartzell or Skeeter Ridley? We played a lot of baseball and football up there at the end of the street.
I get confused a bit on the following - was it the 3rd grade that your Dad home schooled you? (of which I was so amazed that your Dad was smart enough to do that. How did he know how to do that?) And then 4th grade, you were in Israel? Was 5th grade when you were back at Central? What about 6th grade? Did you just not go because you were leaving Green Valley that year? I can not remember.
I remember us reading the Hardy Boys books and trying to write our own mysteries. And lastly, do you remember a cold spring day with winter coats on that we were playing in the creek below Hodil's field. We got our shoes and pants wet. The creek was very high in places and then you just decided to jump all the way in and start swimming around. I joined in. Crazy. We walked home soaking wet and shivering. My coat smelled like creek water.
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I always seemed to be hitting my head. I definitely remember the swing and the falling story sounds very plausible. Another time I fell from a ladder going up to the roof at the Ruby house. I think I lost a tooth—no big deal—but I do remember people saying I was accident prone. Fortunately, I stopped doing that at some point. These days they would have had a helmet strapped on me 24/7.
ReplyDeleteOn the chronology, I attended Central Elementary for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. Also had gone to kindergarden next door—who else went there? We were away for my 4th grade year. As you said, I was back at Central for 5th grade. For 6th, my parents enrolled me at a private school in Squirrel Hill (they thought I was underachieving). Then a few months later, in January 1964, our family pulled up stakes and headed West.
That date is a demarcation point for me. After that came civil rights struggles, Vietnam, and a whole world of problems. I don't remember any of that on Green Valley Drive, but no doubt I have that idealized and it is mainly because we happened to move on the cusp of a new era.
Hardy Boys and Tom Swift? Absolutely. My dad was a big Swift fan, but I absolutely remember you introducing me to a lot of Hardy Boys. Do you remember that Tom Swifties were a fad? “Quick, what’s my name?” asked Tom swiftly. Also, I remember there was a good deal of pig latin.
Farmview absolutely should be brought into the mix. Somebody should start a Farmview post. Yes, Skeeter and Kenny and all those ball games I totally remember. Who was the older kid who could hit the ball a ton and I was completely afraid of? I think of hardball mainly in the field on Farmview, and whiffle ball in our backyard.
I did not go to kindergarden. My parents thought there was not one available. (maybe they meant at St Mary's?) What do you mean by kindergarden 'next door'? to Central? in that smaller building that became a library?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Central. I seem to remember we played together on a little league team(minor league?) one year (5th grade?). I think we wore green and were called the Bucs. Danny Allen's dad was head coach. I do remember being so thirsty that we went across the side street to the gas station for a drink of water.
Do you remember the name of the school in Squirrel Hill?
ReplyDeleteDan and David,
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to remember where I went to kindergarten. It was a little two room schoolhouse. I thought it might have been the building Dan mentions (near Central). I have finally recalled that my little kindergarten building was near Wyland School.
By the way, some of us girls also read The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift books. We also reveled in beating up the boys in a brawl that included the FarmView boys and took place in the briar patch across from Chesleys and downhill from Farm View.
ReplyDeleteDan is correct. Central had the main building and then had a house next to the school closer to Mt Royal Blvd and the ballfields. The two buildings were not initially linked but later a cover (tunnel) was added so that in the winter children didn't have to walk outside. Later when I went to school the building was used for administrative offices and the library. Earlier this is probably the facility used for kindergarten. The structure initially was a small two story "cottage" type house.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to David's question above, it was St. Edmund's Academy, a very hoity-toity Episcopal place with several heirs to steel fortunes in the class. Mainly, I remember learning to diagram sentences there, which maybe put me on the road to my English major and publishing career. I was there the day JFK was assassinated. Oh, and I played on the soccer team. Our folks moved us to Chicago after my one semester there and before I got very involved with classmates and activities.
ReplyDelete