Chapter 1 (partial)

We were back at school on Monday, the fifth of January. Before the Christmas vacation started, it seemed like it would be long. Now that it was finished, it seemed to have gone too fast or too short. The only good thing about being back in school was that we could see each other’s new clothes. We were all about the same age and growing, so ninety percent of our presents were clothes.

It wasn’t so critical for the guys. Girls needed to stay in the mainstream of fashion, or they were whatever girls were when their clothes weren’t the current styles … frumpy, odd, or weird. I don’t know. Having heard enough giggling over the years, I knew that having the wrong clothes could be a social disaster. No matter how new the clothes were.

Guy’s clothes didn’t change that much, so it wasn’t the same problem. Jeans were jeans; khakis were khakis. The brand name didn’t matter.

With guys, what mattered was your haircut. The jocks wore a flattop. A college cut was required for those who thought of advanced education or were trying to look preppy. Rebel types wore their hair the same as Elvis, heavy on the grease, with long sideburns and ducktails until the Army drafted him.

The last haircut you wanted was a pineapple. This was a lock of hair left in front, and the rest cut down with a number two guard on the clippers. At the start of summer, this is the haircut parents would get their small kids to last the season. Melvins, dorks, and nerds kept their hair this way.

Then, of course, it needed to be kept trimmed, so there was the Saturday ritual of a trip to the barbershop. We didn’t think or talk about it. We just did it. You had to keep it above your ears in what was called a white wall. If you wore glasses, the last thing you wanted was the hair to go over the sidebars. They had raised the cost of a haircut to fifty cents last year, so this was serious upkeep.

I kept my college cut trimmed every Saturday if I could. If I let it go for two weeks, Mum would tell me I needed a dog license. If I missed a Saturday, I almost always went on Monday and never past Tuesday.

The most interesting girls were those who switched to a new bra style. The ones that stuck out a lot were called ‘Nose Cones.’ That or ‘Headlights.’ Of course, any bra was also called an over-the-shoulder boulder holder. Yes, we freshmen had a lot of class.

Boy’s heavy sweaters with reindeer were the in thing this year. I didn’t have one, but I thought they were okay.

Restarting classes was the usual commotion. It was like we had never been to school before. Two weeks off, and we had forgotten everything we had learned this year. We were into the fourth week of this six weeks grading period. The first semester exams would start in two weeks, so teachers would start reviewing for the tests next week.

I have been carrying straight A’s, so it wasn’t a dreadful prospect, but I was still going to be prepared. I had already gone over the material that would be presented this week, so I started my review a week early. This should give me a firm foundation for taking the tests.

Cast in Time Book 6 Available in June 2024!

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More details coming soon.

Earl E. (Ed) Nelson

I have always wanted to be an author. I had my first rejection slip in about 1965. Wish I had saved it. For many years the only writing I did was technical as pesky things like three children, nine grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren came along.

My technical writing was in the field of quality in several different journals. I worked in the field of quality for over fifty years, starting as a line inspector and ending up as a Vice-President of Quality and elected a Fellow of the American Society for Quality.

Then a wonderful thing happened. I lost my job and was out of work for almost eight months. To keep from going crazy I wrote. I posted my stories on an online site, and lo and behold people read them and said nice things. Fast forward about eight years and I am retired and writing for the fun of it.

A lot of what is in my stories is based on my life experiences, gasp! Give or take a lie or two that is. The one fortunate thing in my career is that I got to travel worldwide and have been to most of the locations I write about.

In my younger days, I tried hot air ballooning, sky diving, white water rafting, spelunking, and target shooting. I have collected stamps, drove in road rallies, lowly rated by the US Chess federation. I built a Kentucky long rifle and a dueling pistol. I am a licensed HAM radio operator. My hobby is having hobbies.

My true passion is reading. Trapped in a hotel room I would read the telephone book. The TV would not be turned on. I have averaged 200 books a year for the last sixty years. I knew those long flights were good for something.

BTW I was born in the middle of an air raid in England during World War II, the house next door was destroyed and our windows were blown out. That is probably the most interesting thing I have been involved with. Mum never forgave me. Happily married for 56 years I hope my wife doesn’t catch on to what a goof I am.