Est. March 31, 2000 34,139 Previous Hits January 13, 2002 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Staff Writers : Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
We Are FamiLEE! |
Est. March 31, 2000 34,139 Previous Hits January 13, 2002 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Staff Writers : Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
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Last Week's Mystery Classmate We had no guesses on the photo last week, so we'll add another piece to the puzzle and put the before and after photo and see if you can guess from it. |
Pre-Lee School Times Rainer talks of Rison as a rough school, maybe even as a blackboard jungle. Tommy mentions that maybe it was gangs. Well folks, it was none of the above. It was pure simple Economics 101 and cultures. Rison until Dallas was annexed into the City of Huntsville was a rural county school. Mostly just mill worker's families (the have not's) and a few of the (have some) families living at the edge of Dallas mill village . With the annexation of Dallas Mill, Lincoln Mill and West Huntsville Mill, into the city of Huntsville. The city school system had a big problem with its school zones. East Clinton and West Clinton were filled up. Their answer was S.R Butler Senior High School. It would absorb the Rison, Lincoln, Jo Bradley and West Huntsville high schools. Old Huntsville didn't want these kids walking the halls at Huntsville High and Huntsville High just didn't have the room. So when the city re-zoned, it created a melting pot at Rison Jr. High of, (have not's, have some, and now the have-a lot's). Here also enters the cultures. I like most of you was born at the end of WW II, I was the last of 10 children. I had two brothers that serve America in WW II. Now, all of a sudden, we had German kids at Rison. The German kids were better educated at the time than the mill kids. Again, here it is pure and simple economics. Rison was a learning experience for all. Your outlook on it depends on where you were, and who you were at the time. When Rainer answered back, again I was very surprised that he would even remember me. Maybe I punched him in the nose on the playground. Roger's reply didn't, as he and I was very close, maybe more in some ways than Terry and I. Now back to my writing, posting more. From what Rainer wrote I knew that he was just seeing Rison in one way and not looking at the overall picture. Lots of others who were not born and raised here and who have not spent their whole life here, would not understand Rison School. I recall our beloved principal Cecil D. Fain calling me into his office one day for fighting, (yes, I had my share, once or twice a week). Anyway, as we set there talking he made the comment " I just don't know what to do anymore, we have so many Yankees and Foreigners here now." . It was a time of major changes. In all of the lives of the people of Huntsville and it still goes on today. Old Huntsville money wanted to keep things the same. New Huntsville money wants to have their say in things. Sonny Turner, A Lee drop-out (Would have been '64) _____________________________________________ Most of us from the class of '65 that lived north of Mastin Lake Road went to Pulaski Pike School, which was a county school, before we came to Lee in the 7th grade. I had always gone to school in the city before we came to Huntsville. And when I started to Pulaski Pike, we got out of school for two weeks in the fall for cotton picking, since we did not farm this seemed odd to me. So it was like another vacation for me. We also got either sweet milk for one cent or chocolate milk for two cents during the morning recess. This was to make sure we got all the nutrition we needed. As it turned out, my wife Rose Marie's Mother had been instrumental in helping start the milk program in the county. We occasionally got to see movies in the Lunch Room/Auditorium for a dime. We also had a county nurse that would come to check us for head lice and other things. It sure was a shock for a city boy to go to a county school and experience all the different things that county schools did. Glenn James Class of '65 _______________________________________________ I enjoyed reading about Rison though being younger, it was a 7th and 8th grade (junior high) by the time I got there, coming from Monte Sano Elementary. It was rather traumatic. I'd never been around kids who cursed at the teacher or who didn't go to school to learn. It was an eye-opener for me. There were several teachers though who were wonderful. One was Mrs. Reeves, a science teacher; would anyone know if she is still alive and how to contact her? My homeroom teacher had had polio and had a limp - can't remember her name but she was a good teacher, too. There were several "bozo" teachers - men - who were pretty awful - can't remember their names - one was slightly deaf and one was ancient and never could even pronounce my name. Ironically I'm married to a teacher now and see the whole education system differently. Heidi Gibbons _____________________________________________ I really don't remember Rison the way Heidi does. I remember kind and lloving teachers. I went to Rison 1-5 grade, then to Chapman and then back to Rison in 7th and 8th and then back to Chapman for 9th. I loved walking in the halls, the auditorium that had so much history. The breezeway from the building to the lunchroom where you had to run across when it rained. Of course the playground was my favorite place. I remember chasing many boys to the big tree that was always base for a game of tag. I don't remember the cursing and bad behavior. I do remember the long lectures of Mr. Jones. I grew up on McKinley Avenue and Rison was a great place to play even during the summer. I have taught in an elementary school for years and often think about the days of manners and respect. I am sure many other classmates have great memories of Rison. Cecilia Watson Indiana Hunts68@aol.com Class of '68 ____________________________________________ I started attending school in Huntsville in the 4th grade at Rison, 4th through 6th grade, and then moved to Lee in the 7th grade, 7th grade through graduation. Tommy, your memory is amazing. In the 6th grade, I won the Spelling Bee at Rison. How I ever got up the nerve to even be in the thing has always amazed me. I was soooooooooo shy, but I won. There was no real prize for winning, and I remember that my teacher, Mr. Kennamer, took me aside and apologized for that and gave me the loose change he had in his pocket that day. I haven't thought about that in YEARS. I did eventually receive a blue ball point pen that had Birmingham Post-Herald Spelling Bee Winner engraved on it. The next step was to go to Lee and compete. I was so scared there that I missed the first word given to me, which was anxious (and I have never forgotten how to spell it since). The winner at that stage was J. R. Brooks. I remember telling co-workers once, after reading an article in the newspaper about J. R. Brooks, that I once competed against him in a spelling bee. Memories. Linda Beal Walker Class of '66 _____________________________________________ The editor has a confession to make. I was wrong last week when I stated that I started to school at Rison. An e-mail we received jogged my brain into remembering that I actually started to school at Farley, which gives me the right to brag about getting out for "cotton picking" season like a few others of you. Try to explain that to the kids of today! Anyway, I transferred to Rison and was there for the second grade. I remember at the time there was a popular song that went "The sun is shinning, oh happy day; no more troubles, and no skies of gray..." which we would wake up to every morning. Anyway, just before the end of the school year, my family moved to West Huntsville but it was so close to the end of the year that my family did not want me to change schools. My grandmother worked at the West Huntsville Cafe, down by Merimack Mills, and I would catch the city bus there, and ride all the way across town to Rison each day and then after school let out I would catch the bus in front of Rison and ride it all the way back to West Huntsville. I usually fell asleep, and the bus drive would pull up in front of the cafe and wake me up and make me get off the bus. Tommy Towery Class of '64 __________________________________________________ |
The Tao Of Roller Skating by Tommy Towery Class of '64 During the Thanksgiving 2002 Mini-Reunion, I tried to organize a skating party but it turned out that I was the only one brave enough to go skating. Glenn James and his wife Rose Marie showed up to watch me and visit with Sue, but no one else would venture out on the floor with me. During the experience I made a few astute observations which I shall now share with you in a somewhat random order. Most of these observations were of other skaters, but there was a time when most of them could have been you or me. Observation #1 - No matter how good of a skater you are, your ability to keep from falling is directly proportional to the skating ability of the little kid that is directly in front of you. I still find it strange that five decades has not changed the fact that some small kids can continue to make it around a skating rink in a perpetual falling state. From the moment they enter the floor, they seem to be falling forward with skates clanking and arms waving and their bodies in a forward list. They continue to look the same all the way around the floor, without actually falling unless you pull up behind them and have no way to go except in their harm's way. Also on this same note is the idea that some kids do not in fact skate, but actually only walk in shoes that have wheels attached to them. Observation #2 - God meant for us to skate counterclockwise. Any attempt to skate in the opposite direction is counter to God's and nature's plan. It seems so awkward when the P.A. system announces to reverse direction and you find yourself skating where you have to cross the left foot over the right, instead of the right foot over the left. Observation #3 - Skating and chewing gum cannot co-exist in the universe. It was so when we skated at Carter's and it remains so today. It is not the physical skills needed to chew gum and skate at the same time that poses the problem; it is the physical law that states that wheels do not roll when coming in contact with chewing gum on the floor. Observation #4 - When spinning wheels come to an abrupt halt, Newton's First Law of Motion and gravity takes over. As we learned at Lee, that law states: "Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it." See Observation #3 for one possible explanation or close your eyes and think of a concrete block wall or metal guard rail for other possibilities. Observation #5 - Whether it is called The Domino Principle, Chain Reaction, or an Avalanche does not matter; it still holds true that one person can be responsible for taking out a whole line of other skaters. All it takes is for one person falling to reach out and grab another skater, who in turn does the same, and before you know it, bodies fill the floor with thumps and oofs. Observation #6 - Skaters have a blind spot and are vulnerable to any unexpected attack from that side. No matter how long we have skated, we still don't expect some fast moving body to cut across the middle of the floor at reckless speed and hit us from the left side. We watch in front, and we watch to the right, and sometimes even watch behind us, but we still can't seem to understand that the threat will come from the unwatched side. We truly don't expect anyone to come across traffic and hit us from the no-man's land of the center of the rink. Observation #7 - The "left-hip-in", the "right-hip-in", and the "backside-in" are still the favorite parts of watching the girls do the Hokey Pokey for the male gender. Enough said! Observation #8 - Some music seems to stay popular forever at a skating rink. I was amazed at how many of "our" songs were played during the two hours we spent at the roller rink. Of course the newer skaters don't do the same skate to them that we did. A prime example of that idea is the song "Wipe Out". I was very surprised to hear it start up and watch all the young kids rush to the floor to skate to it. Only when I heard the announcer yell "wipe out!" and saw all the kids fall to the ground did I understand what their fun was. The last one standing was the looser. I don't think we had a "skate" back in our early years where we tried to fall down, but that did not stop us from doing so. Observation #9 - There is still a primal progression as to how a boy and girl skate together in a couple's skate. Phase One still seems to be just the boy and girl holding hands while they skate together and try not to pull each other down as they do so. Phase Two is what I call the classic couple skate, where the relationship moves forward and the boy puts his right hand on the girl's right hip and they hold each other's left hand. Finally Phase Three is where one or the other of the sexes skates backwards and the boy puts both of his hands on the girl's waist and she puts her hand on his shoulders or around his neck. This is the one I remember doing the most at Carter's with my favorite partner. Of course this maneuver comes with the danger of the one skating backwards falling down and the other partner falling on top of the other one. And finally that brings us to: Observation #10 - The skating rink is one of the first arenas in which many are exposed to and participate in mating rituals. I observed a new one in today's time that I do not seem to remember from our days at Carter's. If there is a "Boy's Only" skate, the little girls sit on the side of the rink and hold out their hands trying to lure the males into touching them as they speed past. It reminds me of Beatlemania when the girl's screamed and held out their hands to John, Paul, George, and Ringo, wanting them to acknowledge them and touch them as they performed. Only in this case, the girl's did not scream, but it was still obvious that they had certain boys whose attention they requested. I know there are many other observations that I can relate to you, but this short list should give you the idea of the things that I saw. This might be the basis of a new book for me. Skating is still fun whether you use in-line skates or classic four wheel skates. And there were still times that in the dimness of the colored lights and the sound of the old music that I could let my mind wander and have just as easily been fifteen and skating at Carter's Skateland. __________________________________________ |
More Memories Of Carter's Skateland by Barbara "BJ" Seely Ridgeway Cooper Class of '64 I have been scanning the website ever since the reunion a few years ago, when I attended and became aware of all the contacts out there from our high school days. That is mainly thanks to Linda Taylor, one of my best friends from high school and someone who is a good friend today. After so many years away from any news of Lee High, it has been great fun to read past issues and be in touch again. Tonight I was browsing past issues and found the one about Carter's Skateland. Talk about a major factor in my high school social life!! I spent so much time there, and gained some much-needed self-esteem by learning to skate fairly well. My two younger sisters also skated there at the same time, and - to the credit of my family and to the detritment of my social ambitions - one or both of my parents sat in the sidelines the entire evening. Chaperoned to the hilt! Your memories of the girls who would "go outside" were certainly not inclusive of me, sorry to say. I would have been dead on departure. Reading your memories of Carter's Skateland was fun, but I do not remember it in the same way you do. The Carters were family friends, and not at all reluctant to report to Mom what they thought was improper with the Seely girls. My middle sister Cindy, who was quite a good skater, went each night, and my youngest sister, Donna, was our beloved albatross. Cindy and I had to spend a certain amount of time with her each night to teach her to skate, and in our minds, it did not add to our "sex appeal." Cindy Seely Wise (middle sister) is a Lee graduate, five years later than me, so it would be 1969. Donna is not Lee bread, as you put it. She is 11 years younger than me and graduated from Johnson in 1975. I have many, many memories of Carter's. One is of the guy (he was older than me by some years) who was an excellent skater, but sorta weird - long fingernails and some odd mannerisms (ah, the innocence of youth). He decided he would teach me to couples skate, so he would hold me and go through all the motions. If my feet did not do the right things, he would simply lift me off the floor until my feet found the proper movements. After a while, I got the drift and could couples skate pretty well. Also had some very spectacular falls, including some so great the Carters came on the intercom to announce my splatter. Once my sister Cindy did a wonderful spin but then fell, and the cute fake bun hairpiece she was wearing bounced off. The Carters had a big time over the intercom with that: "Catch that thing, Cindy" and other such announcements. Cindy was mortified. I laughed until I fell down - big sisters are not good for sympathy. Carter's had costume night on Halloween, and one year I dressed as a black cat - black top, black skating skirt with a cat's tail, long fake nails, a little cap with ears. Lots and Lots and Lots of makeup (I barely passed parental inspection even with special circumstances to plead) with whiskers painted on. Thought I was Hot Stuff. Won a prize, as I recall. What is funny is that years later, after I was married and out of the house, Donna dug up the ensemble, went to Carter's on Halloween, and won again. I recall one other tale that is hilarious, but not to my mother. Mom and Dad did skate too, and the Carters decided to ask them if we could be in an ad for the rink as a family. A videotape of all of us on the rink was taken, and the commercial appeared on one of the local channels. The announcer said, "And here's a Mother, son, and three daughters enjoying the fun at Carter's Skateland!" Boy, did Dad catch hell for that, even though he had absolutely nothing to do with it. We still cannot tell that story in Mom's presence! I just could not resist responding to the Carter's Skateland memories. Now that my parents no longer live in Huntsville, I will not be there much, but I always thought of Carter's when I drove by their former site. My skates are in my garage even now, with nail polish designs and pom poms that are very ragged. Fun Memories of Carter's Skateland - Additional Comments by Donna Seely Ulloa a.k.a. "The Albatross" I had fun reading the website entries, too - especially that someone mentioned Clayton the Clown, who was the most fun person there, in my mind...quite the amazing skater, too. I'm a bit younger than Barbara (11 years), so I graduated from Johnson High School in 1975. That's why she referred to me as the albatross--I was only two when the rest of you were hitting puberty! However, the Carter's Skateland social scene continued on until a new rink (can't think of the name) opened near the Farmer's Market, so I spent many years at Carter's after the rest of you had moved on. I can't remember if the Carter family sold or closed their skating rink, or whether the new skating rink caused them to close. I can add some memories though. I remember Dee Carter (most spoiled daughter of Carters). And there were the kids who never could skate but who just held onto the rails all the way around. How about the center section that was usually reserved for folks working on their compulsories even if it was Hokey Pokey or...remember the Limbo? And how about the way they'd dim the lights for couple's skate? Also, Mom and Dad didn't always sit on the sidelines...they skated! Mostly Dad. Also, Barbara might want to write the "True Story of Grandma Driving Off the Traylor Island Bridge" taking us to skating.... I reminded Barbara that we have videos of Carter's. Probably many of her Lee friends are in it. I wonder if any of them remember our dad and the Moose Antler lights? ______________________________________ |
If You're Going To San Francisco You're Sure To Find Some Lee Alumni There by Rainer Klauss Class of '64 If the predictions that Mike Acree, Brian Pfeiffer, and I made for ourselves in the 1964 Silver Sabre had come true, when I flew out to see them in San Francisco in October I would have been a chemical engineer visiting a medical doctor (Brian) and some sort of mathematics/psychology hybrid (Mike). Mike achieved his goal; he's got a PhD in psychology, and he works as a biostatistician for the University of California in San Francisco. Brian and I diverged significantly from our youthful career plans. He's a cabinet maker/carpenter (with his own website), and I'm an information specialist (fancy name for reference librarian). Back at Lee, the three of us played and marched in the band, one of the most rewarding and fun-filled activities our school provided. Mike and I were good friends outside of the band, probably having gotten to know each other first in Miss Broom's French class. I was a wise-ass knucklehead; he was this new smart kid from Arkansas. We shared time in Mrs. Ezell's math class, too. I struggled with the manipulation of Euclid's axioms in that later-afternoon class, but Mike sailed right through the mysteries of solid and plane geometry. Lawrence Marx, another math whiz our school produced, was also with us, and by the end of the year he and Mike were probably investigating the frontiers of differential or Riemannian geometry. In our senior year, Mike was a team-mate and/or opponent in a hockey/soccer game (using a tennis ball) that we, along with a bunch of other guys, invented and played on the tennis court in the mornings before school started. Mike Jett, Jimmy Norman, David Bess, Bob Cochran, and Ed Paulette also joined us in that exhilarating sport. Although we were good friends, Mike and I lost contact right after our graduation ceremony. We both had summer jobs, and during the sultry nights I was still enslaved by Linda Sewell, so I didn't hang out with the guys much. Having already disappeared off each other's radar screens, in the fall Mike and I headed in opposite directions: he went to Oberlin College in Ohio, and I moved to the loveliest village on the plains, Auburn. In early April of this year I got lucky and found the Lee website and its circle of memory and regard. The next few weeks saw a flurry of emails and phone calls as old friendships were joyously renewed. Most of the friends I contacted I had seen in the years since our graduation (reunions and visits; I even boarded with Bob and Sandra Ramsey for five weeks in Houston in '75), so there were some threads of connection with that group. With others, like Mike Acree, Brian Pfeiffer, Ed Paulette, and the Blaise brothers, the intervening 38 years were mostly blank. What became of those fellows? No one ever knew. Well, once Mike, Ed, Brian, and I we got the chance we filled in some of that unknown history with lengthy and lively correspondence. The friendship with Mike was re-established so solidly this summer that I made so bold as to invite myself out to San Francisco. Mike has the good fortune to live next to Golden Gate Park and only a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean. He's well aware that he lives in an area of great natural beauty, and he has taken advantage of that situation by becoming an avid hiker. I wanted to experience more of the Bay area's splendor (a wonderful visit with Sherman Banks ['65] and his wife Gail two years ago had just whetted my appetite), so when Mike mentioned that he knew of a trail from his house out to the Golden Gate Bridge and points beyond, I knew we had come upon the perfect activity for part of the visit. On Saturday after a robust breakfast we began our trek. We strolled north to Lincoln Park and then moved onto the trail that skirts the South Bay and puts the Golden Gate Bridge right in front of you. One of the attached picturesme standing on Baker Beach is from that awe-inspiring route. The point of land just above my noggin and several miles away (one of the prominences of the Marin Headlands) is the high point of our journey. Once we got to the bridge, we crossed with hundreds of other pedestrians and runners. However, no one joined along as we climbed the switchbacks into the hills. Mike's picture proves we made it to the top. (No Sherpas or llamas were used in the ascent.) From there, the view is glorious: San Francisco, the bridge, much of the Bay, and the glittering Pacific are spread out beneath you. After enjoying the view for a few minutes, we headed back down and crossed over the Bridge. By that time we had covered 10 milesat a leisurely pace, to be sure, but we had been on the road for about 4 hours. Mike walks to and from work just about every dayan 8-mile roundtrip. This tour wasn't much of a stretch for him. Back home in the visually un-exciting neighborhoods of Snellville, Georgia, I try to walk an hour a day, so I had laid down some conditioning for our walkabout. As we came off the bridge, my body told me we had gone way past my limit. I moved forward only on endorphin fumes for the final 2.5 miles. We walked along the Golden Gate Promenade into the Marina District and then turned into the city for the last part of our journey. Finally we reached the restaurant where we were meeting Brian. (We had hoped that Mike Jett, who lives in Sacramento, would also be able to join us there, but he had family obligations.) While we waited on Brian to arrive, we sat down outside and celebrated our feat with some great Italian beerrestorative and numbing. Right on time, Brian rolled up on his Ducati motorcycle and we greeted each other effusively. Inside the restaurant we stuffed ourselves with Pacific Rim fusion cuisine, regaled each other with old band stories, our adventures (and mis-adventures) in living over the past three-plus decades, and glimpses of our present mental, physical, and emotional situations. Brian, who lives just south of SF on Half Moon Bay, seems to have found a happy balance between work and play in his life. My last full day with Mike was spent sight-seeing north of the city. Blessed with beautiful weather we drove up to Mount Tamalpais, which, with its higher elevation than the Marin Headlands, offers other stunning panoramas of the Bay area. Next we walked through the nearby Muir Woods, a dark and fragrant preserve. We finished off the day with a drive up to Point Reyes, which is rather desolate-looking at this time of year, but it offers a grand place to see a sunset from its lighthouse. It was a very fine visit with our Northern California beach boys, so far away from where we all started. |
Mike Acree, Class of '64, at Marin Headlands |
Rainer Klauss, Class of '64, on Baker Beach. ______________________________ |
From Our Mailbox Anybody remember "Criswell," the white-haired guy on TV when we were kids? In retrospect, he was a really corny "psychic." In the "B" movie "Plan 9 from Outer Space," he intoned, "Greetings, my friends. We are all interested in the future because that's where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives." Not much got past him, did it? A classic from a "Bozo the Clown" show: Bozo: "You're never a loser on the Bozo show, you're just an almost-winner." Kid who didn't win: "Cram it, clown." Bozo: "That's a Bozo no-no." Bobby Cochran St. Louis, MO Class of '64 _____________________________________ I had a wonderful e-mail chat with Ms. Jane Parks before Christmas. It took me back to the days at LHS and typing class. Skip Cook Class of '64 __________________________________ |
We had some good e-mails about Rison and the other pre-Lee schools we attended and the memories of those times. Thanks to all that shared their thoughts with their classmates. This week we revisit Carter's Skateland thanks to Barbara "BJ" Seely Ridgeway Cooper and her reflections. We also get to hear about three Lee classmates meeting up in San Francisco via the inputs from Rainer. Due to several unexpected happenings, it looks as if the Atlanta Area Mini-Reunion is going to have to be postponed until later in the year. I for one would like to see one in the spring or early summer so that we can take in a Braves game, but we'll see what everyone one has to say about that. The staff has asked Bobby Cochran to join our efforts as well, and we look forward to his contributions. T. Tommy __________________________________________ |
Analogies and Metaphors Found in High School Essays submitted by Bobby Cochran Class of '64 1. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. 2. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup. 3. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30. 4. Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze. 5. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. 6. He was as tall as a six foot three inch tree. 7. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. 8. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. 9. The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr. Pepper can. 10. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth. 11. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. 12. The thunder was ominous sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. 13. The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon. 14. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River. 15. Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut. 16. The door had been forced, as forced as the dialogue during the interview portion of "Jeopardy". 17. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do. 18. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work. 19. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while. 20. "Oh Jason, take me!" she panted, her breasts heaving like a college freshman on $1 a beer night. 21. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something. 22. Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. 23. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up. 24. It came down the stairs looking very much like something no one had ever seen before. 25. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant. 26. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge free ATM. 27. The dandelion swayed in the gentle breeze like an oscillating electric fan set on medium. 28. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools. 29. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up. 30. She was as easy as the "TV Guide" crossword. 31. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser. 32. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs. 33. Her voice had that tense, grating quality, like a first-generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightened. 34. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall. 35. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two other sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master. 36. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free. 37. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. 38. She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen dorrs and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again. ____________________________________ |
