Friday, August 18, 2006

On The Back Burner....

Vandy's Kids are working behind the scene to plan upcoming events. The only event that is nailed down at this point is October at Indy Echo's. Please folks, review these possible plans and comment, so we can please the maximum number of people.
The list is by no means conclusive, so please add to or amend it as necessary:

October 21, 2006
Mini reunion at Indy Echo's house in Edinburgh. For planning purposes, please let IE know ASAP if you're gonna attend.


May 2007?
2nd Annual Grand Galveston Fishing Fiasco!
There was much talk about a co-ed affair, maybe a competition between the sexes next year. Should we Charter a boat large enough to handle all of us, or maybe one boat for the Queens, one for the Drones?

November 2007?
1st Annual Aloha Hawaii Trojan Invasion. We wanted to throw this out, knowing it will take considerable planning and financial adjustments. We're looking at several activities:
A better tour of Pearl Harbor than the public receives,
A day spent coasting down a volcano on bicycles,
Walking (rafting?) through lava tubes.
GH sent me a ton of material to review, and I'm still looking it over. If you've been to Hawaii and did something you truly enjoyed, please share some ideas here.

Most of you have read comments here indicating how wonderful our fellowship has been during these "Mini" reunions. It's hard to relate the emotions we've felt. You need to come!
I hope you'll use this information to begin planning to attend as many of these events as possible!

Friday, August 11, 2006

COOL MUSIC AND A SPARKLY BALL

We have been writing about how much music has influenced our lives alot over the past months and Monday night was no different for me.

I was taking a much needed rest from doing some packing and I sat down to do something I am so darn good at in the summer months. Channel surfing.

I stumbled across some music, good music... oh wait a minute...what is that.. I remember these songs.
I had come across PBS doing a night of Doo Wop's best. They had brought back several of the old groups and gosh, they sounded great.
The first song I got to hear was the Tokens "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", followed by the Diamonds with "Little Darlin", and the Zodiacs, then Mel Carter doing "Hold Me".
By the time they brought out Little Anthony and the Imperials I was beside myself.
They did "I Thinking I am Going out of My Head," "Shimmy Shimmy Coco Pop", and a few others.
I was visualizing our CGHS gym filled to the rafters, as usual, for our after game sock hops swaying back and forth polishing those belt buckles. I saw everyone on the floor doing the Cha Cha and I was in heaven.

There were several other groups and if you get to catch the show, take the time to sit back and relax and let the memories flow.

And yes, hanging from the ceiling... was my so precious Sparkly Ball tossing off reflections of days gone by. FF and BomarGirl would have been so proud.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Home

Another old Neil Diamond song:

"L.A.'s fine, but it ain't home.
New York's home, but it ain't mine no more."

There was never a bigger homebody than me......
I think I was 13 when we first ventured out of Indiana to visit relatives in Tennessee. I was homesick on that trip.
And it was worse than that: My life centered around the Valley. Getting wheels meant my comfort zone was extended as far as Greenwood at first, then eventually including Southern Naptown in my late teens.

All that changed in 1966 when Uncle Sam came calling.
Trips to my beloved home came as frequently as possible, but unless you are there experiencing the changes as they happen, returning is like visiting a foreign land. An attempt to return to my Grandparents home on Indianapolis' South Side was met with much frustration; the route there has been dissected by Interstate highways and I had to detour several times from my normal route in order to get there.

Where is home?
I've now lived in this Illinois town longer than I've lived anywhere else.
I'm comfortable here, but the strong ties........
the "have to get back home" feeling is not as strong as it was during my formative years in the Valley.


I don't know the answer to this question:
Can we ever go "home"?

Friends change.
Geography changes.
We change.
And all these changes are dramatic.

Maybe some, or most of my yearning is just a desire to return to the simpler times of my wonderful, carefree youth. But I can't imagine ever feeling about "Home" as strongly as I once did.

What a melancholy feeling!

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

October What?

Does anyone know the October dates for our next mini-reunion? I think it's Oct 7th but the airline folks need something firmer than a guess.
Many thanks