3-19-09...THOUGHTS ON SPRING
Just a few of my thoughts on spring. These were published in 1993 in Gods Beauty, A collection of Spring.
MARCH
I glimpsed a Robin outside my window,
Bobbing his head and trilling a tune.
I thought to myself, That little one
Is in my yard too soon.
For March winds are a blowing
Their crisp breaths all around that tree
where that little bird sits.
And the nip in the air feels fall, not spring.
Maybe he shouldn't be here yet.
Then I glance at my flower bed, covered with brown leafs,
under the oak tree where the Robin sings,
What do I see but little green heads,
struggling upward to be seen.
Green shoots of an Iris, a tulip, and a hyacinth,
that tells me Spring is indeed near.
That Robin knows where he is, it is the scheme of things.
No, that Robin need not have any fear.
Clydene Overbey
SPRING
The sun is shining brightly, air is crisp and sweet.
Green grass is peeking through, brown leafs at my feet,
Yellow daffodils are blooming, tulips peeking out.
Birds are singing merrily, Spring just seems to shout.
Hummingbirds will be here soon, flinting back and forth.
They'll drink nectar from the feeders, hanging on my porch.
God gives us all this beauty, each year at this time.
Nothing man made on this earth,,,
Could compare to God's Springtime!!!
Clydene Overbey
GODS SONGBIRD
I chanced to see a bird this morning,
In all its glory, perched on a branch.
I heard its trill upon the air.
And I looked to take a glance.
I said dear bird how can you sing,
such a beautiful song?
You sing in such a beautiful way,
and do it all day long.
He cocked his head to one side,
I think he was amused at me.
But he didn't need to answer for I knew.
God made him that way you see.
Clydene Overbey
Thursday, March 19, 2009
THE RED BRICK BUILDING
3-16-09...THE RED BRICK BUILDING
When I was in the 7th. Grade I was transformed in to the big kid category. Grades seven through twelve were in the High School building. No Middle school in our little community. We left that white grade school building and went across the road to the Red Brick building that was Altus Denning High School. Now boy howdy did we feel big and important now!
The first day I went there I was a little bit nervous, or should I say scared to death? Yep! Somehow I knew I was not a big kid and I felt very intimidated by that building. Almost the same way I felt going in to my first grade except I didn't cry for weeks. Nope at least I was past the crying stage. Only difference now was I usually cried for madder'n'a hornet. Nope not a baby cry anymore. Of course I didn't cry that day. Nope! I was in the big girl school and knew I'd better act like it.
Brenda had already been up there for one school term and she said she would look out for me. Yeaw, right. Sure she would. She already had a boyfriend and her girl friends. Didn't really matter though because our little class of nine were not to be messed with. Heck no. We stuck together like glue for a couple of weeks. Even after that we were there for one another if needed.
We were rebels from the first. If the class before or after us tried to start a new thing we would just not go along. Heck no, we were different. And just cause there were only nine of us didn't mean we had to conform to a pattern. Nope!
That first day though I was scared. I got off the school bus in front of the school and there it was. Still hot at that time of year. Sun shining brightly and very hot. There were about five concrete steps going up to the double doors on the front. Kids were sitting all over the steps and on the side rails. No one bothered to get out of the way so I just stepped around and over and went on up to the doors. Course it didn't hurt none that Brenda got off the bus with me.
As we went in the doors the floor squeaked in several places as we walked. The floors were almost shiny bare wood floors. The wood was dark with age but they were kept clean by Coy watts the janitor there for I don't know how many years. I saw him sprinkling red stuff on the floors one day before using a long push broom to sweep. It was called floor sweep and you could smell the wax or oil in it. Coy was there all twelve years I went to school but I only saw him after I went to High School. Coy retired the year we graduated and one of the boys in our class got the janitor job. By golly Wesley retired from that job also.
When I walked inside the first day the sun was shining brightly. There was one big room with many desks that were connected together and bolted to the floor. There was a stage on the left side and the desks on the left side. That was the study hall and it was also our hang out before school started and at any free time we had. I grew to love that room. In front of me was a long hallway where I could see another door at the end. I remember the place was sunny and bright. On each side of the hallway were classrooms. On one side of the hallway were radiators which were used for heat. There was always a bunch huddled around those in the winter for warmth. Sometimes they would hiss a bit but we got used to that.
We had cubby holes on one side of the desks that we called lockers. No door on them just an open hole where we kept our books and other stuff. No privacy but who cared, we didn't have anything to hide. I did lose paper and pencils from time to time.
What was more amazing to me was we had indoor bathrooms. Yep we were in high cotton now by golly. The bathrooms were down in or by the boiler room. I never saw the boys side of course but our side was not bad at all and being by the boilers it was always warm.
Now those boiler rooms were where Coy Watts spent most of the day. I guess he had to watch the boilers. Anyway that bathroom was another hang out for us. We didn't realize that Coy was sitting on the other side of the wall and could hear every word we spoke. If we said something he thought should be reported he reported it. I was down there one day and an older girl was piercing my ears. Coy heard us and hurried up and told Miss Brasel. I had one ear done when Miss Brasel put a stop to it. Heck fire I went around for several years with only one ear pierced. The boys finally clued us in that Coy could hear us. The old coot! We wondered if the boys could hear us too but they said no. I'm still not sure about that but we couldn't hear them. I remember a boy called John. He wore real thick glasses and we kinda thought he was a little goofy. We finally got pop machines in the hallway and John was a big mooch. He would go around asking for a drink of your coke if you had one. One day a couple of the boys (boys from my class) Tommy and Jimmy to be exact, took an empty bottle down to their bathroom and peed in it. When John asked for a drink of their coke the willingly handed it to him. Yep! He took a drink of it and it cured him from mooching. Sure nuff did.
I graduated from that old red brick building and I have lots of good memories from there. Several years later they built a new modern school there. That would have been nice but they tore our old school down. When I heard about it where I lived in Missouri I was devastated. I was sad and I was mad. That day I cried those madder n' heck tears. I just couldn't see why they couldn't leave that building there. It could have been storage or something. I will never understand the logic in tearing it down. That building had been there for many years. Had been a college when it was built. A historic building to be sure. Torn down for progress. How stupid is that? They tore down part of my life when they destroyed that building. Wonder when they will try to discard me? Better not even try! The building is gone but my memories of it are still alive and well. I can still picture all those young faces as we passed through those halls and rooms. Such good memories. Such a big part of my life. Can't take that away from me. Nope! Memories are always alive and well.
When I was in the 7th. Grade I was transformed in to the big kid category. Grades seven through twelve were in the High School building. No Middle school in our little community. We left that white grade school building and went across the road to the Red Brick building that was Altus Denning High School. Now boy howdy did we feel big and important now!
The first day I went there I was a little bit nervous, or should I say scared to death? Yep! Somehow I knew I was not a big kid and I felt very intimidated by that building. Almost the same way I felt going in to my first grade except I didn't cry for weeks. Nope at least I was past the crying stage. Only difference now was I usually cried for madder'n'a hornet. Nope not a baby cry anymore. Of course I didn't cry that day. Nope! I was in the big girl school and knew I'd better act like it.
Brenda had already been up there for one school term and she said she would look out for me. Yeaw, right. Sure she would. She already had a boyfriend and her girl friends. Didn't really matter though because our little class of nine were not to be messed with. Heck no. We stuck together like glue for a couple of weeks. Even after that we were there for one another if needed.
We were rebels from the first. If the class before or after us tried to start a new thing we would just not go along. Heck no, we were different. And just cause there were only nine of us didn't mean we had to conform to a pattern. Nope!
That first day though I was scared. I got off the school bus in front of the school and there it was. Still hot at that time of year. Sun shining brightly and very hot. There were about five concrete steps going up to the double doors on the front. Kids were sitting all over the steps and on the side rails. No one bothered to get out of the way so I just stepped around and over and went on up to the doors. Course it didn't hurt none that Brenda got off the bus with me.
As we went in the doors the floor squeaked in several places as we walked. The floors were almost shiny bare wood floors. The wood was dark with age but they were kept clean by Coy watts the janitor there for I don't know how many years. I saw him sprinkling red stuff on the floors one day before using a long push broom to sweep. It was called floor sweep and you could smell the wax or oil in it. Coy was there all twelve years I went to school but I only saw him after I went to High School. Coy retired the year we graduated and one of the boys in our class got the janitor job. By golly Wesley retired from that job also.
When I walked inside the first day the sun was shining brightly. There was one big room with many desks that were connected together and bolted to the floor. There was a stage on the left side and the desks on the left side. That was the study hall and it was also our hang out before school started and at any free time we had. I grew to love that room. In front of me was a long hallway where I could see another door at the end. I remember the place was sunny and bright. On each side of the hallway were classrooms. On one side of the hallway were radiators which were used for heat. There was always a bunch huddled around those in the winter for warmth. Sometimes they would hiss a bit but we got used to that.
We had cubby holes on one side of the desks that we called lockers. No door on them just an open hole where we kept our books and other stuff. No privacy but who cared, we didn't have anything to hide. I did lose paper and pencils from time to time.
What was more amazing to me was we had indoor bathrooms. Yep we were in high cotton now by golly. The bathrooms were down in or by the boiler room. I never saw the boys side of course but our side was not bad at all and being by the boilers it was always warm.
Now those boiler rooms were where Coy Watts spent most of the day. I guess he had to watch the boilers. Anyway that bathroom was another hang out for us. We didn't realize that Coy was sitting on the other side of the wall and could hear every word we spoke. If we said something he thought should be reported he reported it. I was down there one day and an older girl was piercing my ears. Coy heard us and hurried up and told Miss Brasel. I had one ear done when Miss Brasel put a stop to it. Heck fire I went around for several years with only one ear pierced. The boys finally clued us in that Coy could hear us. The old coot! We wondered if the boys could hear us too but they said no. I'm still not sure about that but we couldn't hear them. I remember a boy called John. He wore real thick glasses and we kinda thought he was a little goofy. We finally got pop machines in the hallway and John was a big mooch. He would go around asking for a drink of your coke if you had one. One day a couple of the boys (boys from my class) Tommy and Jimmy to be exact, took an empty bottle down to their bathroom and peed in it. When John asked for a drink of their coke the willingly handed it to him. Yep! He took a drink of it and it cured him from mooching. Sure nuff did.
I graduated from that old red brick building and I have lots of good memories from there. Several years later they built a new modern school there. That would have been nice but they tore our old school down. When I heard about it where I lived in Missouri I was devastated. I was sad and I was mad. That day I cried those madder n' heck tears. I just couldn't see why they couldn't leave that building there. It could have been storage or something. I will never understand the logic in tearing it down. That building had been there for many years. Had been a college when it was built. A historic building to be sure. Torn down for progress. How stupid is that? They tore down part of my life when they destroyed that building. Wonder when they will try to discard me? Better not even try! The building is gone but my memories of it are still alive and well. I can still picture all those young faces as we passed through those halls and rooms. Such good memories. Such a big part of my life. Can't take that away from me. Nope! Memories are always alive and well.
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