New Kid In Town

So here I was fresh from Antioch and 6th grade in to Oakley Elementary 7th Grade after a short stint at my uncles place in San Mateo.  I know a confusing childhood! I was at Uncle Preston's in San Mateo because my Dad decided that I looked like a punching bag and my Mother thought that was a bad idea.  So here again I was trying to make new friends in a new school--new to the kids here in 7th grade--Penny, Gail, Larry, Gloria, Barbara, Francis, Rosa, Danny, Dennis, Jerry Law!, Frank Silva, Joyce Riley and many others--I apologize now for not listing your name--just check the Oakley Elementary yearbook for 1957/8 or check With Barbara Baroni in Brentwood she may have more names--I once gave her a copy of every photro I had from this stint of childhood.  Anyway, this being my 12th year here on earth and my 7th year in school and my 7th school--I was fairly good at making friends but deplorable at keeping them for more than a year.  I went on from here to Liberty, Pleasant Hill, George Washington inSF and then finally to Adams Adult in SF.  Then an almost 2 years at City College SF, San Mateo College, Skyline night college and finally Carpentry Apprenticeship and on to  a career in Hi Rise Construction. 

But here in 7th & 8th grade I recorded some of my most memorable events.  You know like discovering girls--that was a biggie.  Lusting after Penny who was lusting after Frank who wasn't lusting after anybody--quite the shy handsome guy.  Trauma!--Not for me--I fell in love with Rosa then I broke up with Rosa and she was crushed.  To be honest the quest for attention and acceptance was enough to fill the soul of this 8th grader.  Long term relationships were maybe 3 weeks to three months and then on to the next challenge.

It was fun tho in between the misery of home life.  Especially if you blocked out the fact that you had no friends except the one you had just met.

I worked the summer of 57 at a peach and apricot drying shed--all summer--cutting thse little spheres in half and tossing the seed.  Watching as people cut themselves and bled in to the condiments destined to be dried in the sun amongst the powder of sulfer--the cleansing agent I suppose.  25-cents a box for apricots and 15 cents for peaches.  a foreman that punched your card every time you finished a box.  In the 9 or so weeks of summer labor I put together a handsome $40.00 sum to be spent on whatever I wanted!  So in the company of my Father in this highway baitshop bar were fishing rods and reels, so there is where my hard earned wages went--for a fishing rod that I do not even recall ever using.

Then the back to school--8th grade now--fun of trying to meld in---I met the "Weatherby Sisters"  all the kids mentioned above and the "best Friend"---"Larry"--well best for a while. 

Larry later confided in me that the only reason he befriended me was because the girls all thought I was the cats meow!  That was a real ego booster.  The fact that the girls thought I was worthy of attention while good for my ego--was on reflection quite understandable.  For If I had known Larry or Barbara or Penny from first grade to 8th grade--well does the word boring fit in here?

Well it doesn't matter now that Larry couldn't find the courage or depth of character to keep up even an inkling of contact over the year's, never answering an invitation.  What mattered to me was the camaraderie of the times---discovering romance,  rock and roll, little Richard even Elvis.  It was a magical time in life and a magical transition from childhood to adolescence, that in between time when you begin to discover yourself--and learn who you are. The things that mattered were the times we shared, trapping the Oakley movie theater managers car in the alley--he had this new fangled car with a giant door in the front more like a scooter with a cabin--four of us picked it up and set in in an ally facing the wall----impossible to drive out--we did this right after tossing coke bottles at the movie screen and getting booted out and before we decided it would be a good idea to hitch-hike to LA and get rich and famous---the Sheriff brought that quest to an end about 9 pm.. 

We also had soul searching discussions --like about why JD's dad thought he was a punching bag, why Larry's dad flew the coop, why my Father never thought to be a Father!  And on the lighter side--- Why Jerry Law thought he was the tough guy, why Frank never went for Penny. 

Any way just a glimpse of life at 12 to 14 in beautiful downtown Oakley in 1958.