GEE, AIN'T IT FUNNY HOW TIME SLIPS AWAY ?

MOI : FIRST IN CLASS
( Class Roll Call, i.e. , because my last name started with an A ! )

I've been busy all Summer whipping 30 year olds into shape on landscaping jobs. Makes me feel good that in my sixth decade I still have the stamina to put in 8 to 10 hour days on the job.

Guess my bubble got busted real good when I recently received an envelope from Sweet Home Alabama. Inside was an invite to my 45th high school reunion. Now if that doesn't make you feel your age I don't know what will ! As the old song goes, " Gee ain't it funny how time slips away ? "

Winfield, in the northern part of the state, is known for it's annual Mule Day festival which in addition to judging the best mule, has all sorts of events, games, food, bazaars, etc. The event draws 25,000 people, remarkable because the town has less than 5,000 residents ! I wonder what they do with all those visitors since there's only one or two motels and B & B's in the entire town. These can't be cousins or kinfolk can they ?

Mules Line up for Judging

Every year since graduation I've " threatened " and " aimed " to go back and see many of the 55 classmates I've known since childhood. Guess my aim is off because for one reason or the other I've never made it back. Everybody knows everybody there, and their business as well. You don't need a telephone because news travels fast through the grapevine.

When the first American soldier was killed in the Afghanistan war they announced that he was Johnny Michael Spann of Winfield, Alabama and a graduate of Winfield High School, the same that I attended. . I wondered if he was one of the Spanns' I went to high school with. Doesn't this sound like something out of " To Kill a Mockingbird " ? When I first read the book I realized how much I was like Scout.

Someone once posed the question, " Is there life after high school ?" Should I go back home after 45 years ? Will anyone recognize the skinny, nerdy girl I was back then ? I mean I've gained a few pounds, wrinkles, etc., but then, haven't we all ?

They say you " can't go home again. " Should I ? Good grief, I just realized my wardrobe consists of nothing but gardening clothes . I've got nothing to wear ! And I need to lose ten pounds !