Flashback Friday

This week we journey back to those halcyon years of long ago, those carefree days of high school. I enjoyed my years at Aledo High School, but I didn't take too much seriously. It was simply too easy to get on the Honor Roll. That is not braggadocio, merely an observation that if I could do it, then anyone could. I never studied. Played around too much in the hallways, never helped with school floats and such unless I thought I could spend time with one of the girls. Nope, high school was fun and games. I wouldn't discover real awareness until college. That was where my eyes were opened. In high school I just joked around and played along.

My eternal yearbook epitaph: The more mischievous of the Blythe twins, Mike could always be seen doing something, whether working for the school or just "bombing" around. Mike's sense of humor will be remembered at AHS. The references to working for the school and bombing around may be obvious, but I'll fill you in with that some other time.

If I'd taken football seriously I probably could have done better. Never learned the plays well enough to be an impact player, and, well, I had better things to do. This was purely peer pressure (that and Algebra II).

Stay tuned for further explanations of this picture.

Mike In The Middle

Escorting a beautiful girl at one of the proms, but I can't remember a thing about it.

That's me in the next to last row, upper right, pen in hand, ready to take copious notes for class.

I was a classic example of youth is wasted on the young. But I had fun. One of the things we did in high school was have a party when my parents went to California for a vacation. They had an extensive liquor collection and by the time the dust settled, most of the bottles were emptied. Easy enough to fix, put water in them and sit back and softly exclaim, "Score!" That is until the folks have a party and start mixing drinks for their friends...and that, as they say, is the coup de gras.*

*Coup de gras means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature.

My hair seems to be taking on an odd Donald Trump look.

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Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the facts of the murder and attempted murder are most unpleasant

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week. Except for me. I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers. These pics need no words. Why muddy the waters? They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley. The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter. If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one. But, please, no more.

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida. There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife. In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride. He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much. He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A. But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here. If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying. He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed. Note the propeller

Existing In BFE

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