On The Back Steps Of Maple Hill High School

Early this month I spent a rather frustrating couple of days in search of the remnants of an old stone fence.....more about that in my next blog. After a long first day I checked into the Franklin Square Inn Suites in Troy , showered , shaved and got a bite to eat. I took an arthrotech at dinner so as I drove back to Schodack I was beginning to feel less pain from my back and knee. I set for awhile on the back steps of my old high school. Still had an hour and a half of light or so. I took some notes down on the day. Then as I sipped my Dunkin Donuts coffee my mind went back to my school yrs. We never really escape history. A fair chunk of my history was here. I have written about my high school in a couple of blogs. High School can carry some good memories sometimes a scar or two. I don't really ever want to go back in time to relive particular events. I never really liked taking an overload of orders so I parted this place relieved. Yet one of my hobbies is archaeology and history. The crumbling back steps that led to the old gym locker rooms where I set gave me a good view of the soccer field. Memories flooded back on those steps , fellow students , teachers , bus drivers etc. My semi history. Many people in my life then are dead or shall we say gone to their rest. Parents , teachers , nosy neighbors.I read the school is a top school in the area. That is good they even have taken steps against bullies. School administrators like Mike Nagal probably are now discouraged from slamming the "more difficult elements " against lockers. Oh well such were the days that some yearn for. As for me ............ this former shy , class clown , what does he miss........? Well , Maple Hill at that time had a poor track record of dealing with what we now call dyslexia and ADHD and other difficulties of learning. It was dealt with by trac system segregation. Simply put "smartest" to the "dumbest" were separated and theoretically taught in "separate but equal" classes. This was educational bullshit of course as I was to later learn in my graduate level Ed Psych courses. Professor Jan Abelseth taught me well at SUNY Albany. So my career path was set by watching what was going on around me to people. Can't say I missed that but it was instructive to my future. I believe I miss......my senior year. I had returned from another school , that I spent my junior yr in , "no it was not a reform school" it was a Prep School. I was glad not to be wearing a jacket and tie to class for one thing. I hooked back up with kids I had known since early elementary school. I was way tired of Prep School snobs. Anyway, Ron Kunicki and John Connolly and I were to hook up and pal around alot that senior yr. I returned with a back injury and a couple of concussive incidents from soccer the previous year. Jesus I was glad to be away from sports. Ron & John helped me come back and settle in, which took awhile. Anyway , school is often a forced socialization situation but I was glad to be back in familiar surroundings. That is what I miss , the people. If you liked each other or was in the wrong click you still knew them in a small town. People you knew for a long time. Being away gave me an odd new appreciation. People in all their differences. So that is what I miss.......the sometimes awkward memory of that early year of mine. People. I smiled on those school steps thinking about some of those times. Not all of course , just some. Music , TV , Garage Rock , Ripple wine , Ron's brothers P1800 Volvo with the electronic 5th gear switch which we often borrowed , my senior yr Christmas , Lizzie my short term girlfriend and the feeling that life was opening up beyond a small town. Friends. I still know Ron , he lives in Brooklyn and is an architect , have not seen John in 20yrs , he went on to be a teacher. We only had one reunion , to be honest I don't think educational segregation led to an abundance of closeness with my class. So it goes. But I remember that senior year as somehow special......my final go around before setting off on courses really unknown. Coffee gone , nicorette gum chewed. Time to continue elsewhere , starting with a good nights sleep. I left the steps of that past to soon look for another more remote past of someone else. BE SEEING YOU.