Drive Ins

My son recently wrote a paper for his English teacher about the time honored classic novel, 'The Outsiders', by S.E. Hinton. Sheesh. I had to read the very same book for MY 7th grade English class...um....WAY too many years ago....when it was considered 'compelling contemporary literature'. Anyway, in one section of his paper he was to outline ways in which the book mirrors his own life. What did he say? "Pony Boy, Dallas, Soda Pop, Two Bit (etc.) liked to meet at the drive in. My family likes to go to the drive in too." Hee.

I am glad he remembers. It's kind of like passing down a family tradition. Thursdays were pay day for my dad and we always went to the bank to cash his check, paid some bills and went out to dinner somewhere. A lost tradition due to today's convience of direct deposit. Friday nights in the late spring and all summer were devoted to our family fixation with the movies. We would pore over the newspaper listings to see what was on, pick one and be ready to go after dinner at home. We would load the car with pillows and blankets, popcorn or chips, candy, a gallon jug of kool aid and off we would go.

When I was growing up, Waterford and outlying townships used to be a mecca of drive ins to choose from. It was our Friday night tradition in the summer. Two movies for the relatively cheap price of one. Kids under 12 could get in free. My sister was 'under 12' till she turned sixteen and finally put her foot down.

There was the Pontiac Drive In which had a very nice playground with a mini ferris wheel and boat ride for kids. The Waterford Drive In had a little train on a tractor that would wind it's way around the parking lot and another vehicle there would spew out choking mists of bug repellent on some hot summer nights. The Blue Sky and Commerce theaters were miles away from home which meant a longer drive till we finally stumbled from the car to our beds after going to the show. My sister was small enough - for a very long time - to make her bed in the back window of our car. She would cram a pillow under her head, wrap one arm around the dog and squeeze them both under the cool glass of the back window and leave the entire back seat of the car to me. On very rare occasions we were allowed to sit outside the car in folding chairs, huddled under a blanket,,,not to keep warm but to keep the mosquitos at bay. Sound came from a box on a pole that you would hook on the inside of your window - and risk popping out that window if you forgot to replace the box before you drove off. I remember hating the bathrooms.....at any of them.

There was generally a cartoon before the feature. If we were on the playground and the cartoons came on, that was the clue to race back to your car and not miss it. Sometimes the sun hadn't gone down quite enough and the cartoons were washed out, but that didn't matter. It was followed by a feature flick, then a ten minute refreshment time - complete with a generic 'commercial' for the refreshment stand. There were only a couple of different ones but the one that stands out most in my mind is one of two little space guys in flying saucers that zoom in for popcorn and coca-cola and then blast back into space. The screen was then filled with a huge clock marking 15 minutes - and a medley of calliope music that I can still hum today....mega years later. Every minute we would get an update. "Our show will start in 10 minutes....or nine or eight...." I used to hate that freaking clock. In all honesty, however, it probably served a good purpose in helping me learn to tell time!

Following the 15 minute break we would be treated to my favorite part of the night - COMING ATTRACTIONS!! I still love watching the previews at the movies...and so do my kids. The second feature is when we usually fell asleep. It was a rare occasion when we managed to stay awake during two movies. And if we actually did, the drive home would certainly do us in. We would carry pillows and blankets inside and drop onto our beds with our play clothes on.

I still remember some of the movies we saw at the drive in. I remember watching Agnes Moorehead and Debbie Reynolds navigate their way through wild river rapids in 'How the West Was Won' from waaaay back in the make out section. Got there kind of late that night, I guess. I remember watching 'To Kill A Mockingbird" from the back seat of the car with my Mom, her aunt Dort and Dort's daughter, Debbie. I had gotten lemon drops for a candy treat that night and heard the word 'rape' for the very first time in my life. I think I was about nine. Occasionally we would go and park next to a family or friend. I remember seeing 'Soylent Green' with Charlton Heston parked next to my Aunt Cleo. I remember taking peeks over at she and my Uncle Tom as they slept through most of it and left before the second picture. My dad was a war movie fan and we saw plenty of those....'MASH', 'Kelly's Heros'...to name a couple. We saw Elvis movies, Disney movies, Pink Panther, Beach Party movies,etc. I think the only genre that we didn't see were the slasher movies or horror flicks.

Once my sister and I couldn't get in for free any more, drive in visits were fewer and farther between. One summer when I was home from college and my sister was working at McDonalds, we went to the drive in together regularly for kicks. And I almost kicked out the dash board of her little car watching 'Jaws'. I didn't go in the water for the rest of that summer either. We saw every kind of movie possible....including the slasher/horror thing my parents always avoided. That was the movie about some 'fry kids' that developed 'special skills' because their school bus went through a radio active cloud of some kind of chemical. Eeeew. Probably the single reason neither of us can stand black nail polish as that was the clue that you were about to be 'fried'. And one night we took my dad's van, backed it into a spot, opened the doors to get a better view, wrapped up in blankets and promptly fell asleep till the end of the second movie. Kinda scary when you think that anyone could have jumped in there with us. LOL

Every one of the drive in theaters of my memories are closed. I drive by their locations occasionally. The Waterford Drive In is just a big open field. The Pontiac has been sealed off and the Commerce just had their big screen torn down. It had been closed for years and years. But my children have drive in memories. They actually prefer the drive in over the multiplex theaters of their world. We just happened to learn about a semi-local drive in and went for a lark one weekend a while ago. We just keep going back.

Our trips to the drive in involve a 55 minutes drive and a stop at a gas station for jumbo sized Slurpees and candy bars. Sometime we pop popcorn or buy chips but in the interest of supporting this little piece of Americana, we buy our popcorn there. It's expensive.

Going to the drive in is still fun. Ours is a double screen - which means screens are facing each other and one screen shows one set of movies and the other shows another. You get the sound for which ever screen your vehicle is facing. There is still an interesting comraderie with drive in patrons. People still chat, share snacks, walk their dogs, open the back end of bigger cars to get a better view. My kids still occasionally sit outside in folding chairs huddled in a blanket to keep mosquitos at bay. Playgrounds are not there but kids still play in the drive way while they wait. Frisbees, baseballs, soccer balls...you name it. My son made a couple of bucks one night by washing windows of cars while we waited for the show to start. He was doing ours and people on either side asked him to do theirs. He talked about going into business doing that for a while.

Kids are no longer free but the admission price for 'under 12s' is minimal. There is rarely a cartoon before the show. Sometimes the movie starts before the sun goes down and it's hard to see on the screen. They still have a 15 minute refreshment break between features. And they still play the same basic medley of calliope music. They still screen 'Coming Attractions.' One really nice improvement is that movie sound now comes from your radio speakers. And I still hate the bathrooms.

The World That I Teach In

I am staying away from the television and newspapers today. Everyone else seems glued to the news of another shooting on another college campus. But I prefer not to hear one more thing about violence in a school setting. I am a Teacher.

In one more month I will be marking the 30th year since I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from Oklahoma Christian College and began my teaching career. Those thirty years have seen a drastic change in Education. Curriculums have changed. Textbooks have changed. Testing measures have changed. Classroom designs have changed. Playgrounds have changed. School lunches have changed. Public attitudes have definitely changed.

Along with correct drinking fountain skills, jump rope rhymes, learning to get along with others, planting seeds in paper cups and an ever broadening spectrum of formal academic skills, I am now required to have my Kindergarten class participate in 'lock down drills' as well as tornado and fire drills. We must teach anti-bullying lessons in our classrooms. Parents need to report to the office for a 'visitor' sticker before coming to a classroom to help. Birthday treats need to be scanned for peanut/chocolate/lactose and gluten allergies. Our office staff will soon need medical degrees for all of the medications they dispense during the day. And we need to ease worries about gun toting citizens storming into schools. Did we really worry about that 30 years ago? I wonder if I would have proceeded down the path of a teaching career had someone given me a look into a crystal ball. Probably.

You see, one thing has not changed in 30 years. The mind of the child. The mind that yearns for stimulation and fun. The mind that very literally soaks up the information that is tossed their way, processes it and then tosses it back out into the world with their own stamp of approval. The mind that looks for a reason behind everything and tries to make it fit in the world they know.

Childhood has certainly changed...just as education has. Our children have seen the very news reports and written pieces that I am avoiding today. Even five year olds know about war in far away places. They know about food kitchens and children who do not have socks to wear and blankets to wrap up in. They know about allergies and illnesses that could take their friends away forever. Try as we might, we simply cannot keep them in their own little bubble of innocence any more. They will see....they will know....and ultimately they will change the world we are handing over to them. It is our job as Teachers...and Parents....to give them the tools for change.

So....we will teach them to read and to write and to measure angles and sort things with common attributes. We will keep them safe with lock down drills.....and teach them to problem solve. We will guard them from peanuts and chocolate and lactose and gluten and bee stings and strangers......and teach them to take care of their bodies. We will toss worms back into the grass after a rainstorm and capture spiders in our classroom to be released to safety outside. We will teach them to guard the gifts of the earth. Guard them very carefully. We will keep singing songs about vowels and bubble gum and monkeys jumping on the bed....and teach them to laugh. We will encourage them to collect cans for food kitchens, blankets for shelters and pennies for the Leukemia Foundation. We will cheer as they jump for the American Heart Association. We will keep the world of gun men and wars and hunger and sick at bay for a while every day.......and give children the innate self esteem to know that they have the power to change things. We are Teachers after all....and that is what we do. Every single day in this crazy world. We teach.

NYC

When I was eight years old, my parents left my sister and I with Aunt Cleo to spend a week in New York. They were participating in a reunion of my dad's WWII army division, the Golden Acorn 87th. When they came home my mom was full of tales of cab drivers that cursed one another, buildings so tall they blocked the sun from the streets, the Statue, the UN building, the World's Fair, wonderful people, the hustle and bustle and exciting sights. My little head was fairly bursting and filled with a longing to see the city myself. I read everything I could about the city...every fictional kids' book I could get my hands on that was set in old New York and new New York. Anyone ever read 'The Magic Tunnel'? I think mine was tattered to shreds.

As I grew, so did my desire. When I became enamored with play writing and theater as a pre-teenager, it blossomed even more. The fact that Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway were in NYC made it even more enticing. Only a short plane hop away, right? But, always, always 'life' stepped in to divert time...and money.... elsewhere. My children have learned to love Chicago, as it is a city closer to us. It's their ultimate vacation spot. My husband rankles at the thought of crowded streets and traffic jams. But my heart still longs for the streets of New York.....just once.

Last week my younger sister , who - ironically - has never wanted to visit there, came home from chaperoning her daughter's high school band trip...to New York. Heh. Pay backs for her childhood 'enlightenment' to the existence of Santa and the Easter Bunny, no doubt. She came home with tales of crowded streets, hustle and bustle, flowers in street stands, buildings so tall they blocked the sun from the sidewalks, tributes to the life changing 9/11, astounding architecture, testy food, tour guides with sass and memories of a life time. Sigh.

And so the pictures are hers....and readily shared with me. But there is still hope for my ultimate vacation after all. My daughter's scout troop is contemplating next year's end of the year event as a 'weekend in New York'. Loose in New York with a gaggle of 12 year olds? I will be SO there as a prospective chaperone. Till then....and I know it's trite but.....give my regards to Broadway!

Update....The troop decided that a weekend in Chicago was the way to go. Still had a great time though. I think that I am a TOTAL city bird!

Pink Elephants & April Fools

April Fool's Day passed in a relatively quiet manner this year. It was Sunday and the kids were roused with a 'we're late for school!' call. Not funny as they stumbled out of their beds....for about 30 seconds. Then there was the telephone call to Non and Pop in Florida. Snow storm in Michigan and the kids were out playing in it. Foot and a half of snow was dumped over night...easy. Naw, they said. Bantering back and forth for about 10 minutes as the sun flooded in the bedroom window and the kids were stuffing blankets in their mouth to keep from laughing. Finally, just as we were to hang up and I had Non hooked...line and sinker...I said 'April Fool's'. It was a funny, funny scenario in my kids' eyes. One we tried to copy later with Aunt Darcy...but lost it in giggles too soon. Oh well.

This 'holiday' has never been one that I took particular delight in. I don't like being the fool. And unfortunately, being a too trusting and somewhat naive individual, I was usually...the fool. It is a day however, that never passes without thoughts of pink elephants.

When I was growing up, our telephone would ring on April Fool's Day and it would be my Grandmother. "Quick...run to the back door," she would say. "There are pink elephants flying over your house!" And I would do it. Every time. There was a year or two when I would argue and she would insist and I would always check. And then there was the year (I was in college, I think...) when I called her to tell HER to run to the window to see the pink elephants. The tradition continues.

My Grandmother died last summer. She was 97 years old and still living on her own in a nice little house in Florida. She lived for long drives in the car, flea markets and meals eaten at restaurants with the best senior citizen discount. She was fortunate to have her children - a tremendous support system - around her to help her sustain that life style. They drove her here and there, ate with her in restaurants and looked after her daily needs. Even in the end, she was lucky. We were all there. Admirable. Ninety seven years old and taken out by a careless driver in a head on collision. She hung on for several days....surrounded by her children, grandchildren and four of her great-grandchildren. Lucky her.....

My Grandmother and I had a complex kind of relationship. I was never an easy child. Big for my age, cloddy, loud, occasionally obnoxious (okay...maybe more than occasionally), heavy, hearing impaired and introspective, I had been born smack in the middle of my Grandmother's 'favorites'. One was a cousin two and a half years older that she helped raise and the other was my sister, four and a half years younger. Her computer screen name isn't 'litte ray of sunshine' for nothing. It is a childhood nickname that stuck. Sigh.

I never, ever felt like I quite measured up in my Grandmother's estimation. She was a stern task master and demanding individual. When I spent the night at her house I puked on the inside of her brand new van. When I went shopping with her we would always buy my clothes in the fat lady section....no matter how much I argued. I broke a glass figurine that was displayed on her glass table. I consistently fought being seated at a 'kids' table'... especialy when the afore mentioned cousin made the move to the 'big table'. I was always too loud...or too boisterous...or too...whatever. Hungry for attention from someone that didn't have it just for me. So I thought...as I grew up.

Oh, I have great memories because of her as well. My family camped on weekends with my grandparents as I was growing up. We spent many holidays at a special restaurant in Frankenmuth with them....and when we celebrated at home her cole slaw was the best tasting ever. And I never got her recipe. There were birthday cakes with quarters wrapped in plastic and stuffed inside the birthday kid's piece. There were chins dripping with peach juice from the fruit grown in her backyard. There was money that turned up in surprising amounts in surprising places. She took my sister and I to Hawaii the Christmas after my Grandfather had died. An unbelievable and treasured time. I will never forget the look on her face when we hung a filled stocking for her to find on Christmas morning that year...in the hotel shower. We continued that tradition for her for a couple of years after.

I was in my 20's when my Grandfather died. He was the third of her four husbands, the Grandpa we had grown up with and her undeniable soul mate. It was a difficult, difficult time for her. For all of us. As we were filing into a pew for his funeral service, my Grandmother unexpectedly slipped between my sister and I to sit. That was the first - and only - time in my life when I ever felt like I was able to please her. We held her hands that day. I prayed...long and hard and passionately that she would find peace.

That day passed and we moved on with our lives. She moved many states away to Florida. We didn't see much of one another. She loved the fact, however, that I loved to write. It was probably the one thing we had in common...aside from our prickly personalities. A traveler with good memories of trips to China and Korea, she delighted in the fact that my children are Asian.

We forged a relationship of respect....but never one of real friendship. That relationship belonged to the 'little ray of sunshine'. Heh. I am fortunate that I have gotten to know my Grandmother better through my sister and her sharing. And I am fortunate to have been there in the end. My children have several days worth of memories with 'the freaking OLD people' as my Grandmother and her entourage babysat for me while my mother was in the hospital last summer. Those will be memories that stick with them for a long time.

Kind of like pink elephants flying over your house.

Mabel Elizabeth Green
Thayer McLeod Mattoon Hawkins
1909 - 2007