tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189098628728250646.post1921591842044025496..comments2023-03-13T15:24:06.517+01:00Comments on Growing up in Des Moines: Learning, the Hard WaySteven Meglitschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11412914213120721737noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189098628728250646.post-51372138333363115792008-11-22T08:04:00.000+01:002008-11-22T08:04:00.000+01:00I did it too. Grew up in Des Moines, I mean. 1953-...I did it too. Grew up in Des Moines, I mean. 1953-59. I lived on 31st Street across from Calanan Jr. High. I went to Elmwood, one grade level behind you. My friend Bucky Smith (Harold III) was in your grade and may have been in your class. I also had Miss Lisman, and she hated me. My second grade Hawaiian teacher, Miss Asue, really liked me. What a relief. Mrs. Finny was ambiguous. Miss Muto was a work of art and said I wasn't mature enough to be a traffic boy. My worst teacher was Powell, and Mr. Denny nearly ruined me for life. I not only went to Grace Methodist Church, I was a member. I attended every week, except when we weren't in town, which was often. I always took a handkerchief to avoid being "only partly dressed". I went for two weeks to Vacation Church School every summer. You may have seen me across from your house on the lawn drinking Kool Aid. We had massive elms in our yard, and you're right, there was something about the canopy.... I noticed it was missing when I visited in 1969 and how much hotter it was. The neighborhood had gone from being a place to being nowhere. And the interstate that plows through everything in its path...I'd heard that was coming when we moved in 1958, but it had attained the quality of a myth or an apocalypse. You used to not could see from our house to the church on 31st Street about halfway through the 7/10s of a mile walk to school. In fact there were several neighborhoods to make it through before that thing sprang up. Today, though, it's right over there, across the freeway. That's how rain forest people feel when suddenly they can see each other at a distance after the clear cutting. In 1958 I moved to greener pastures, namely Sioux City. My next door neighbors said I would hate it there. They were the Beers children. Not my cup of tea, but you may have heard of them.Rich Hilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15504296025291785430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1189098628728250646.post-76475979501140520682008-11-22T08:03:00.000+01:002008-11-22T08:03:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Rich Hilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15504296025291785430noreply@blogger.com