As I mentioned in an earlier post, my mom's job back in 1970 consisted of driving around to various cattle auctions in Oklahoma and Texas selling "advertising time" on monitors that showed the vital statistics of cows as they crossed the block. Her territory ranged from up near Oklahoma City down towards Houston. She didn't get home as often as she wanted because Tyler was quite a bit out of the way.
In early 1971 the lease on the Chilton Street house was just about to expire and that gave us the opportunity to move somewhere more conveniently located. Dallas probably would have been ideal but mom really didn't like living in heavily populated areas (traffic and all) so we settled on Denton...So one fine morning in early 1971 we drove there, bought a newspaper and starting going through the rentals.
Sidebar: Denton is located roughly 30 miles northwest of Dallas and is home to two major universities: North Texas State University (now called University of North Texas) and Texas Woman's University (AKA "T.W. Zoo"). At that time Denton had a population of 20,000 with a college enrollment of 30,000. (Hence - the population more than doubled during the school year.)
Now, before I go any further I should point out that there was a significant distinction between "looking for a place" and "needing to find a place".
We were always looking for a place. It was primarily a recreational activity - sort of like window shopping - one of mom and Karina's favorite things to do:-)
But needing to find a place was totally different. We went about that in a deliberate and businesslike manner. There were only 2 criteria - minimally livable and in our price range. It rarely took us more than 2 to 3 hours to find something.
That day in Denton we were all business. We gleaned a list of potential rentals from the classifieds, prioritized them, made a couple of pay-phone calls and we were off.
Another aside: Back in those days handheld mobile communication devices were only used by people like Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock... In the real world phones were typically black, had dials, and were physically connected to things... Bell Telephone (asubsidiary of AT&T) had a virtual monopoly on telephone service in the U.S. and you couldn't even buy a phone. You had to rent one from them and it was not cheap. Especially those new-fangled push button "touch-tone" ones. (When they first came out people played songs on them - it was quite the fad.) But I digress :-)
I remember that we looked at a couple of apartments in Denton but they were pretty bad. (We're talking about the kind of places even college students wouldn't live...) The next place on the list was a house located about 5 miles south of Denton in a little place called Argyle.
It turned out to be a lovely 2 bedroom furnished home on an acre located a couple of hundred yards from "downtown" on Old Justin Road. I remember it being quite affordable. That was probably because the owner wouldn't rent to college students and that cut out about 95% of the local market :-)
It was a no-brainer... We went back to Tyler, packed up and said our goodbyes... Aside from my friendship with Wayne I really didn't have anything going on at the time so (for once) the move didn't cause any significant disruption in my life...
That was a quite a novel experience :-)
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wrapping Up Tyler
It seems like I'm just about done with the year (1970) we spent in Tyler, Texas. There are still some random tidbits that bear mentioning - or maybe not. But I'll mention them anyway...
One of out neighbors on Chilton Street had a dog that walked like a camel.... It was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen... For those who are unaware: Quadrupeds typically move the legs on the same side of the body in opposite directions - just like a human swings the left arm backward when the left leg is moving forward and vice-versa. This yields a nicely balanced gait. On the other hand, camels (and giraffes) move both legs on the same side of the body the same direction at the same time. This is referred to as "pacing" and it looks really goofy. (Scientists speculate that camels and giraffes do it because they have long legs and short bodies and their legs would collide otherwise.) Regardless - I'd never seen a dog do it before and our neighbor's sheepdog did it all the time... It took me the longest time to figure out exactly what was wrong with the way it walked. I knew it wasn't right but just couldn't put my finger on it :-)
I don't think I mentioned the brick streets before. Tyler had a lot of them. The cool thing is that wet bricks are almost as slick as ice... When it rains you can do all sorts of interesting maneuvers. I learned a lot about controlling a "drifting" car on those streets.
Then there was the time one of Karina's boyfriends gave me a ride in a (heavily modified) 1967 Corvette 427 convertible. I'd been sipping on some ice tea in the front yard when he offered to take me for a ride and I made the mistake of bringing the tea with me... So - he babied the Vette gently around the corner, rev'ed it up to 3000 RPM and dropped the clutch. Now - I thought he was just revving the engine to annoy some nearby old people - I totally didn't expect him to launch it... My head snapped back against the seat and I blacked out. When I came to I was wearing the ice tea, we were going about 70 MPH and he was cursing and downshifting like a madman because someone had pulled out in front of him. (We were in a 25MPH zone at the time...) We survived the ride in one piece and the whole experience only served to fuel my desire for ungodly acceleration :-)
This one time Wayne and I were "smoking" in my bedroom when the doorbell rang. It was the sheriff's deputy that mom knew. (The one Pam was living with). Mom was out of town and had apparently asked him to stop by and check on me from time to time. She really should have warned me - Wayne and I jut about had heart attacks when I opened the door. The deputy must have smelled it but he never said a thing. I told him I was doing fine and he went on his way...
BTW: Wayne had this on-off-on-off relationship with his girlfriend (now his wife) and when they were "off" Wayne and I would occasionally pick up girls while cruising and bring them back to my place... Nothing ever happened... We'd talk - have a drink or two - and they'd always leave... I guess Wayne and I just weren't sexy enough :-)
Karina and I knew another girl named Pam. She was the only child of wealthy parents and was constantly whining that all they ever did was give her cars and furs and diamonds but they didn't really love her... Yeah - the more extravagant the gift the more she bitched about it... We totally could not empathize :-)
Late one evening a few of us took her out to see the acreage the "guru followers" had bought outside of town. We got out of the car and started walking the property and she completely freaked out because she had never seen a firefly before... Seriously... This girl was 19 years old and had never been outside after dark in a rural area... Talk about a "pampered princess" :-)
When mom was out of town and I was home alone I usually just ate TV dinners. (They were the cornerstone of my diet.) But when Karina was around she was expected to cook for me - and she did so - grudgingly... Whenever she fixed me something she'd yell "Here Peter! ... Here boy!" And when I got to the kitchen she'd grab a bowl and a big spoon and dramatically slop the food into the bowl. (It didn't matter what she made - she always fed me in a bowl.) I guess it was intended to be demeaning but as long as I got fed I really didn't care :-)
I remember Mrs. Osborn being rather irate one day. Her youngest daughter was in the second grade and the teacher had told the class that hippies were worse than n-words because n-words couldn't help being n-words but hippies chose to be hippies and they should all be thrown in jail... Yeah - that is classic Tyler :-)
And that about sums it up!
One of out neighbors on Chilton Street had a dog that walked like a camel.... It was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen... For those who are unaware: Quadrupeds typically move the legs on the same side of the body in opposite directions - just like a human swings the left arm backward when the left leg is moving forward and vice-versa. This yields a nicely balanced gait. On the other hand, camels (and giraffes) move both legs on the same side of the body the same direction at the same time. This is referred to as "pacing" and it looks really goofy. (Scientists speculate that camels and giraffes do it because they have long legs and short bodies and their legs would collide otherwise.) Regardless - I'd never seen a dog do it before and our neighbor's sheepdog did it all the time... It took me the longest time to figure out exactly what was wrong with the way it walked. I knew it wasn't right but just couldn't put my finger on it :-)
I don't think I mentioned the brick streets before. Tyler had a lot of them. The cool thing is that wet bricks are almost as slick as ice... When it rains you can do all sorts of interesting maneuvers. I learned a lot about controlling a "drifting" car on those streets.
Then there was the time one of Karina's boyfriends gave me a ride in a (heavily modified) 1967 Corvette 427 convertible. I'd been sipping on some ice tea in the front yard when he offered to take me for a ride and I made the mistake of bringing the tea with me... So - he babied the Vette gently around the corner, rev'ed it up to 3000 RPM and dropped the clutch. Now - I thought he was just revving the engine to annoy some nearby old people - I totally didn't expect him to launch it... My head snapped back against the seat and I blacked out. When I came to I was wearing the ice tea, we were going about 70 MPH and he was cursing and downshifting like a madman because someone had pulled out in front of him. (We were in a 25MPH zone at the time...) We survived the ride in one piece and the whole experience only served to fuel my desire for ungodly acceleration :-)
This one time Wayne and I were "smoking" in my bedroom when the doorbell rang. It was the sheriff's deputy that mom knew. (The one Pam was living with). Mom was out of town and had apparently asked him to stop by and check on me from time to time. She really should have warned me - Wayne and I jut about had heart attacks when I opened the door. The deputy must have smelled it but he never said a thing. I told him I was doing fine and he went on his way...
BTW: Wayne had this on-off-on-off relationship with his girlfriend (now his wife) and when they were "off" Wayne and I would occasionally pick up girls while cruising and bring them back to my place... Nothing ever happened... We'd talk - have a drink or two - and they'd always leave... I guess Wayne and I just weren't sexy enough :-)
Karina and I knew another girl named Pam. She was the only child of wealthy parents and was constantly whining that all they ever did was give her cars and furs and diamonds but they didn't really love her... Yeah - the more extravagant the gift the more she bitched about it... We totally could not empathize :-)
Late one evening a few of us took her out to see the acreage the "guru followers" had bought outside of town. We got out of the car and started walking the property and she completely freaked out because she had never seen a firefly before... Seriously... This girl was 19 years old and had never been outside after dark in a rural area... Talk about a "pampered princess" :-)
When mom was out of town and I was home alone I usually just ate TV dinners. (They were the cornerstone of my diet.) But when Karina was around she was expected to cook for me - and she did so - grudgingly... Whenever she fixed me something she'd yell "Here Peter! ... Here boy!" And when I got to the kitchen she'd grab a bowl and a big spoon and dramatically slop the food into the bowl. (It didn't matter what she made - she always fed me in a bowl.) I guess it was intended to be demeaning but as long as I got fed I really didn't care :-)
I remember Mrs. Osborn being rather irate one day. Her youngest daughter was in the second grade and the teacher had told the class that hippies were worse than n-words because n-words couldn't help being n-words but hippies chose to be hippies and they should all be thrown in jail... Yeah - that is classic Tyler :-)
And that about sums it up!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The First Date
Sometime early in the fall of 1970 I actually went on a date - my first... I think her name might have been Pam so I'll just call her that :-) She was related to a family (the Osborns) who lived "kitty corner" from us and she was living with the family of an uncle who was a local sheriff's deputy that mom knew... I don't recall if I met her through the neighbors or the uncle - in a town like Tyler everyone seemed to have multiple connections :-)
Pam was a sophomore at John Tyler High when I was a senior but she was actually older than me. I remember seeing her at school but didn't know who she was at the time... I later found out she'd had a troubled childhood. She was raised by her father and didn't really get along with him so she rebelled at an early age and got into lots of trouble. Her father kicked her out and that's why she was staying with her uncle's family in Tyler.
Before I get too far with the story I suppose I should also say a bit about the Osborns. They lived across the street and one house up from us (southeast corner of Chilton and Lindsey). The oldest daughter (Kathleen) was my age and I had a bit of a crush on her. She was thin, attractive and had really long black hair... She was something of an enigma - came across as shallow and self-centered (typical "pretty girl syndrome") but I suspected there was more to her. I was never able to figure it out because she got extremely uncomfortable whenever I tried to have a conversation with her. (I guess she couldn't figure me out either...) She ended up becoming a grade school teacher and counselor, so yeah - there must've been something there...
I spent a fair amount of time at the Osborns' because their mom seemed to have a soft spot for me. It was probably obvious I was having a rough time - must've triggered her maternal instincts :-)
Mrs. Osborn was a dental assistant and when she found out I hadn't been to a dentist in 6 years and had a couple of huge cavities she arranged for me to get my teeth fixed at greatly reduced cost. It was much appreciated. But it wasn't just that - she was always really nice to me...
And back to the story:
I had a provisional license at the time and wasn't allowed to drive at night so on the night of my first (and only) date with Pam she picked me up in her VW beetle.
OK - this is funny: Before we left for dinner we listened to a couple of songs off an album I had just bought. When we knelt down in front of the record player (it was in a pull-out drawer under the TV) I was hit by this overwhelming stench. I remember sitting there wondering if she had just farted or if she smelled bad or what, and I'm betting she was wondering the same thing about me. Neither one of us said a word... And a few days later I discovered a huge pile of cat crap behind the TV :-)
After surviving the "extra-sensory" listening experience we headed off to the Royal Pagoda. (It closed down long ago.) That was Karina's favorite restaurant in Tyler and since I was her designated driver I ate there a lot... BTW - I seem to recall that the only Chinese food I would eat at the time was sweet and sour pork with fried rice... It wasn't until the early 1980s that I decided the various chicken and beef dishes were tasty too :-)
As soon as the waiter saw me he said "No brunette this time? I guess you like blondes too!" I had to explain to Pam that he was referring to Karina - and that's the only thing I remember about dinner.
Aside: It strikes me that (as a general rule) when someones comes to a restaurant with a different companion than usual the waiter should probably refrain from making references to the usual companion... That is if he expects to get a decent tip :-)
After dinner we headed to the drive-in theater just past loop 323 on the east end of town. (Also long gone.) I think it was off of E. Erwin street a bit past the original "Gilbert's El Charro" restaurant.
Another aside: Karina went out with Gilbert Jr. for a while - he was about her age and was just starting to run "El Charro" for his dad. (There are 2 "El Charro" restaurants now.) I also recall that Gilbert had a younger brother who drove a 1969 GTO Judge and was one of the "night people" in Tyler - Wayne and I used to run into him fairly often.
I have no idea what movie was showing... We just started talking... We discovered that we had both suffered a lot of personal trauma. And we'd both had to "grow up" at a very early age. And neither of us felt like we were part of the world around us - or that we could trust anyone but ourselves... Within minutes we were telling each other things that we'd never shared with anyone else.
I honestly don't know where the time went. The next thing we knew the movie was over so we just started driving around. (There really wasn't much else to do in Tyler.) I mentioned to her that I could use some practice driving a stick shift car so we pulled into the John Tyler High School parking lot. We were just about to get out of the car when security vehicles pulled up on either side of us and a bunch of guys got out. Apparently there had been some "school rivalry" vandalism so they had beefed up the patrols. The guards were somewhat sheepish when they realized we were just a couple on a date. But they made us leave anyway...
Pam had arranged to spend the night at the Osborns and we ended up getting back there around midnight but we stayed in the car and talked until about 2AM... We didn't even kiss or anything but everyone assumed something was going on... It was kind of sad, really... Pam had made some mistakes when she was younger and had gotten a "reputation". It was largely undeserved (as near as I could tell) but those kinds of labels never seem to go away. The perception was the only reality that seemed to matter... I suspect that's still true today...
It's hard to explain what happened from there. We talked a few more times but never went out again. I know Pam was really upset about it. She was completely up front about liking me and wanting to be with me... But I was still confused about relationships. I was expecting to feel that deep yearning, infatuation, desire thing - and it just wasn't there... I've since realized that the sensation I'm describing is an ancient procreation reflex and is a horrible basis for a relationship. (I'm stunned at how many people actually think that's what "love" is.) But the point is I didn't feel that way about her - she was just someone I really liked :-)
There were other factors. It seemed like every time I got attached to anyone or anything we moved away. To quote Rod Stewart: "That's a pain I can do without." And there was the whole "panic disorder" thing - I couldn't help obsessing about everything that could possibly go wrong. And I was wondering if it was a good idea for people who are that needy to be together...
It got to the point where I couldn't call her because I knew she'd be mad at me for not having called earlier. And every day that went by I figured she'd just be that much madder... So I never called again... And that's how it ended.
Pam was a sophomore at John Tyler High when I was a senior but she was actually older than me. I remember seeing her at school but didn't know who she was at the time... I later found out she'd had a troubled childhood. She was raised by her father and didn't really get along with him so she rebelled at an early age and got into lots of trouble. Her father kicked her out and that's why she was staying with her uncle's family in Tyler.
Before I get too far with the story I suppose I should also say a bit about the Osborns. They lived across the street and one house up from us (southeast corner of Chilton and Lindsey). The oldest daughter (Kathleen) was my age and I had a bit of a crush on her. She was thin, attractive and had really long black hair... She was something of an enigma - came across as shallow and self-centered (typical "pretty girl syndrome") but I suspected there was more to her. I was never able to figure it out because she got extremely uncomfortable whenever I tried to have a conversation with her. (I guess she couldn't figure me out either...) She ended up becoming a grade school teacher and counselor, so yeah - there must've been something there...
I spent a fair amount of time at the Osborns' because their mom seemed to have a soft spot for me. It was probably obvious I was having a rough time - must've triggered her maternal instincts :-)
Mrs. Osborn was a dental assistant and when she found out I hadn't been to a dentist in 6 years and had a couple of huge cavities she arranged for me to get my teeth fixed at greatly reduced cost. It was much appreciated. But it wasn't just that - she was always really nice to me...
And back to the story:
I had a provisional license at the time and wasn't allowed to drive at night so on the night of my first (and only) date with Pam she picked me up in her VW beetle.
OK - this is funny: Before we left for dinner we listened to a couple of songs off an album I had just bought. When we knelt down in front of the record player (it was in a pull-out drawer under the TV) I was hit by this overwhelming stench. I remember sitting there wondering if she had just farted or if she smelled bad or what, and I'm betting she was wondering the same thing about me. Neither one of us said a word... And a few days later I discovered a huge pile of cat crap behind the TV :-)
After surviving the "extra-sensory" listening experience we headed off to the Royal Pagoda. (It closed down long ago.) That was Karina's favorite restaurant in Tyler and since I was her designated driver I ate there a lot... BTW - I seem to recall that the only Chinese food I would eat at the time was sweet and sour pork with fried rice... It wasn't until the early 1980s that I decided the various chicken and beef dishes were tasty too :-)
As soon as the waiter saw me he said "No brunette this time? I guess you like blondes too!" I had to explain to Pam that he was referring to Karina - and that's the only thing I remember about dinner.
Aside: It strikes me that (as a general rule) when someones comes to a restaurant with a different companion than usual the waiter should probably refrain from making references to the usual companion... That is if he expects to get a decent tip :-)
After dinner we headed to the drive-in theater just past loop 323 on the east end of town. (Also long gone.) I think it was off of E. Erwin street a bit past the original "Gilbert's El Charro" restaurant.
Another aside: Karina went out with Gilbert Jr. for a while - he was about her age and was just starting to run "El Charro" for his dad. (There are 2 "El Charro" restaurants now.) I also recall that Gilbert had a younger brother who drove a 1969 GTO Judge and was one of the "night people" in Tyler - Wayne and I used to run into him fairly often.
I have no idea what movie was showing... We just started talking... We discovered that we had both suffered a lot of personal trauma. And we'd both had to "grow up" at a very early age. And neither of us felt like we were part of the world around us - or that we could trust anyone but ourselves... Within minutes we were telling each other things that we'd never shared with anyone else.
I honestly don't know where the time went. The next thing we knew the movie was over so we just started driving around. (There really wasn't much else to do in Tyler.) I mentioned to her that I could use some practice driving a stick shift car so we pulled into the John Tyler High School parking lot. We were just about to get out of the car when security vehicles pulled up on either side of us and a bunch of guys got out. Apparently there had been some "school rivalry" vandalism so they had beefed up the patrols. The guards were somewhat sheepish when they realized we were just a couple on a date. But they made us leave anyway...
Pam had arranged to spend the night at the Osborns and we ended up getting back there around midnight but we stayed in the car and talked until about 2AM... We didn't even kiss or anything but everyone assumed something was going on... It was kind of sad, really... Pam had made some mistakes when she was younger and had gotten a "reputation". It was largely undeserved (as near as I could tell) but those kinds of labels never seem to go away. The perception was the only reality that seemed to matter... I suspect that's still true today...
It's hard to explain what happened from there. We talked a few more times but never went out again. I know Pam was really upset about it. She was completely up front about liking me and wanting to be with me... But I was still confused about relationships. I was expecting to feel that deep yearning, infatuation, desire thing - and it just wasn't there... I've since realized that the sensation I'm describing is an ancient procreation reflex and is a horrible basis for a relationship. (I'm stunned at how many people actually think that's what "love" is.) But the point is I didn't feel that way about her - she was just someone I really liked :-)
There were other factors. It seemed like every time I got attached to anyone or anything we moved away. To quote Rod Stewart: "That's a pain I can do without." And there was the whole "panic disorder" thing - I couldn't help obsessing about everything that could possibly go wrong. And I was wondering if it was a good idea for people who are that needy to be together...
It got to the point where I couldn't call her because I knew she'd be mad at me for not having called earlier. And every day that went by I figured she'd just be that much madder... So I never called again... And that's how it ended.
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