by Mark Maine

Created on: January 10, 2009   Last Updated: January 29, 2009

"Up your nose with a rubber hose!" yeah, well "twice as far with a chocolate bar!" In seventh grade we were quite adept at tossing insults at each other and being cool, at least from our perspective. Life was simple, as it should be for any twelve year old kid. Our greatest concerns were that it might rain and there would be no baseball after school. I cannot claim to have actually gone to Junior High school as my small New England schoolhouse consisted of just short of 200 kids ranging from grades one through eight. The transition from Elementary to Junior High was well Elementary, for that is where you stayed until you graduated and went to High school. Looking back I wouldn't have had it any other way, for we didn't miss a thing.

In the springtime I used to get up early so that I could ride my bicycle the 3 miles uphill to school. Only contrary to the common exaggerated grumblings of a different generation, mine was only uphill one way. Every morning I would meet my friends for a game of baseball before school started and then sit in class and stare outside all afternoon until school ended so that we could charge down to the ball field and practice some more. Looking back our little baseball team must have been quite a sight to see. We didn't have the money for uniforms, so the local independent telephone company donated t-shirts and hats for our team. We played in shorts or blue jeans or whatever we had. It was a big deal when one of my friend's parents had bought him a set of cleats for his birthday.

My friend John had a used ten speed bike and we liked to race down to the ball field. There was always something that was not working right on it and the chain fell off quite frequently. On this particular afternoon we were racing down to the General store to get a soda when he overtook and passed me. Effectively switching gears and flying by me, he turned back laughing and shouting something about winning. I tried to warn him to pay attention, but it was too late Over the curb and into the bushes he flew! The bike kept going a short distance and abruptly stopped expending its energy on a light pole. John kept rolling for a bit and finally came to rest under a pine tree. I jumped off of my bike and ran up to see if he was alright.

I forgot to tighten the brakes was all that he said and then he burst out laughing! He got up and walked away without a scratch. We limped his bicycle with the newly bent tire down to the store and got some sodas. His mother came

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