Memoir Monday, Sept 23, 1966

 Okay, then. I got a few votes or mild "please" to go on, so you asked for it! Learn about college life at a smaller conservative school in the mid 60s,  what happened next with Dusty and some other relationships and adventures I got into my first semester. There was a tragedy or two back down in the valley as well.  

Sept 23, 1966

Got up about the usual, ate etc. Went to Accounting and feeling rather ill, I stopped and checked on the grant--shoot, they’re not in yet. Maybe Monday. So I came back and rested until lunch. I had a letter from Judy; they are moving to Murrieta area. I helped Carol lug her stuff out to her car (it’s a white Chevy) and ran down to History. At 2:00 I was free, but it was raining. So I stayed to sprinkle some clothes and then I was called to the phone. I nearly panicked but it was Carol Ordiway. She said she had meant to call and would again next week. Then I went up town to watch trains--saw the express through. JoAnn and others went home on it. And I saw a westbound freight with a small outfit moving. I did not get the numbers which drastically upset me. Charlie Mike will flip but maybe I’ll see another. I bought some grub for the weekend. Guess I’ll skip the ride tomorrow but try to make the barbecue. $4.00 is too steep.

I’m really going to get my driver’s license next week. Then I’ll be able to rent a car. If I don’t turn up Dusty pretty soon I’m going to go find him. Drake is 66 miles from Flag. I could drive it and back in three hours, I’m sure. Say 4:00 to 10:00? Yeah! I spent the evening putting up hems and ironing. Gee it is lonely as hell! I miss Carol’s presence even if she is quiet. I will make it home next weekend. But that is just too good an idea--this bit of renting a car. I know; I’ll have Carol let me drive hers a time or two to get the feel of an automatic shift and then about Thursday I’ll go take the test. Then I’ll have to check out the cost of a rental and then… Damn if that isn’t an idea though. It grows on me. Why be chicken?  I’d better go take a shower. It is 10:30 and I’m kind of tired all of a sudden. I feel a little sick like this morning. My stomach is rebelling again. Hell.

'Splains: The 'express' I mention was probably similar to The Grand Canyon, a  below-top-of-the line passenger and mail train. Carol Ordiway was the wife of my old crush Buster Ordiway with whom I had become Pen Pals back in--was it '63 or '64? Anyway, my new roommate was also Carol, so I'll try to keep that from being confusing. The license and rental car idea never quite worked out; not sure why really but it sounded good then!. 

 To summarize the week, I had spent Sep 17 and 18 in Clarkdale. Saturday I rode with Charlie Mike, riding Chief and leading Leo  while he rode Buzzie and led Lyno. We went to the depot--seems I drove--to pick up some packages and saw Earl and watched the local in. It seemed so small after the big main line trains! I caught the bus in Cottonwood Sunday evening and rode up the first time with Louie, an older guy who became my regular driver and an “honorary grandpa" of sorts. By 9:30 I was back in the dorm.

It was cool and damp for a few days with a larger storm on Monday. I hoped it was not too bad down in the valley. I also laid away a winter coat at one of the lower level stores, Price's (?)  knowing it would soon be cold and my old chore jackets would not work.  It was black vinyl with pile lining and cost $15. It was cute and I said would be $40 at Babbitt's. The next day I picked out a pair of tall winter boots, black also with pile lining and got them at Penney’s for $5.00.

Wednesday I got a letter from Jim (McLarney that is). I’d written to thank him for his help in getting there and we started a correspondence. I noticed a guy in the student union who caught my eye; he was a forestry student and in the rodeo club but I decided he was too young.  Most the guys seemed so immature after Dusty.  I learned the rodeo club met weekly and that they planned a barbecue/picnic and a four hour ride on Saturday; most had horses but some could be rented. What, me rent a horse for $4:00 and *pay* to ride?

 I was wishing Dusty would call but hardly dared to hope. I was not real sure how things were going to be. I still miss him so. There is a big hollow inside me left by the absence of his love and closeness. I had really not heard anything from him since the brief note from the hospital. So much had changed in my life since then yet my heart remained the same… 

By the next weekend--end of September--when I went down to Clarkdale some major changes had happened in my absence.  Things I'd never expected  when I made my last visit much less earlier, before I left. Almost like a big eraser rubbed across parts the past life... 

Photos:  Here is a sample of my curtains--I was not sure I still had them but found them in some of my hoarded memory stuff.  I drew those little horses a lot for years. Then it turns out the storm on the 19th was a bad one. A flood came down across the pasture and the folks struggled to get the fences back up. In the end that was an exercise in futility. I was lucky not to be there. Those pix were not processed until years later when Alex was taking a photography class and did a bunch of old rolls in darkroom practice. Digital was still very new in the early 90s! He was using one of the family's later-acquired Nikons then. Last, two shots from campus, Lumberjack football in the very old open stadium! 

  

Memoir Monday, Sept 16, 1966

 Sept 16, 1966 Fri

Before I go on, I want to ask a question. I know many of my readers have been to college, maybe mostly later than my time there but it is not new or alien territory to the degree my cowboy girl life was. Might it get boring? There are still a number of plot threads that have not been resolved but do you really want to follow them for more installments? A warning, it is going to get a bit more choppy and not match up neatly day to day from here on out for many reasons and I am not sure how I will deal with that aspect.  So does anyone want to continue to follow this saga with those caveats? I surely will not be offended if you say no! I will make a decision probably before the next regular entry which would be September 23, but would appreciate any feedback.

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The week of Sept 9-16 had seen me through my first week of  ‘college’, which included both some things I had expected and a lot of new experiences and challenges.  I had passed the first weekend on campus --well, there and walking all over town! The sudden lack of physical activity and work  for long hours to burn up lots of energy was a difficult adjustment. That first semester I did a lot of walking.

On that weekend, I also wrote letters--including one to Dusty to let him know about my sudden amazing change and where I was now including my campus mailbox and the closest dorm pay phone (old dorm only had a few scattered around)  I had communicated with him very little since his visit in June and his time in the hospital. I was not sure if his mail might still get intercepted or that such contact might put his job if not more at risk, so I had waited. I knew he was back at work now so took the chance and hoped this one would reach him. It did but I did not know that for awhile. 

I met a few girls in the hall and made a couple of tentative friends. I bought some light pink fabric and drew my little horses on it with crayon which 'set' with a warm iron to make curtains.  They did make the room less stark and institutional. After a couple of days, Kim moved out; I heard she was expelled after being caught in a men’s dorm long after curfew. I soon got a new roommate, Carol Nichols, who was close to my age and doing her student teaching. She had roomed for two years with Lila Bentley, a former Mingus grad who had been in my class. Small world. It took longer to get my first check than I had expected and that threw me into a brief panic but I managed to postpone various payments. It finally came midweek and went quickly but all the necessary things were covered.  I went to every class at least twice, attended a meeting of the rodeo club and  began to try to do homework most evenings. I was not too confident I could keep my grades where I felt they needed to be. That four year break…

I usually wrote up the day in my journal shortly before bedtime. Thus, Friday, Sept 16 got skipped because I want back to Clarkdale for the weekend and left soon after my last class. The Boss came up and got me that afternoon. Generally he seemed cordial and mildly curious about my experiences so far. I went along to the pasture and actually took part in a lot of talking, not really “talks” as such. It was a brief repeat of my return from California back in January--all nice and light for a time.  That evening Buzzie seemed to have a mild colic so I rode her around until dark. I felt like a visitor sleeping on the cot in the living room as Charlie Mike now had the double bed, formerly mine,  and that night shared with Alex. who had taken over the cot.

 Three photos from campus, fall 1966. The Forestry Building. The rodeo club met here and I knew several who had classes there.  Then the east face of North Quad and the main door. Morton Hall was around the corner to the right side. Finally, just south of campus on one of my many walks.

Memoir Monday, September 9, 1966

 

September 9 1966

What a difference a mere week could make. Even today it almost makes me dizzy. Space travel? Time Travel? Reincarnation? Magic? None of the above yet all of them. Bear with me for I need to take it day by day leading up to September 9, 1966. That ending entry will be the grande finale or climax of this long and often very hard summer. Even of my 23 year long life in some ways.

Sept 3, 1966 

At times I could cheerfully say “Aw, hell with the whole damn mess. Go cram it up your ears.” I’m tired of this buck passing deal, ready to say to hell with the whole thing. Who is supposed to be doing what?? But one doesn’t. I have to give it a good rodeo try. The fight isn’t over, is it?  

Then I wrote nothing for the 4^th and 5^th, which was the Labor Day weekend. I assume I had labor aplenty and probably quite a few discouraging words at my ‘home on the range.’

Sept 6, 1966

Things have really been spinning today. I got a $100 check from Glenn Wright (Dollars for Scholars), four times as much as I had expected. I could’ve cheered. And I have a letter for Dr McDonald from Dr Joe Pecharich. That should help. I am almost hopeful. The past two days have really been hectic. We caught the whole herd in Tavasci’s on Sunday, then took Cinder to Nichols’ and brought home Baltazar (a mule we had already given that name) and a red horse. This was some kind of trade as I recall. One that took a lot of running…

Then it was up at 4:30 a.m. on Monday to help the herd “disappear” and after that we mended fences, branded Balt etc. So wonder why I am tired?  Today I cleaned all the pens and did some repairs. Then I packed my stuff. I have no way of being sure I can stay but I’d say it is better than 50-50. I will be living in North Hall by the way.

So now to bathe and drag my weary bones off to bed. I’m going to wear my ‘butterfly’ kabuki sleeve skimmer. Doubt if there will be a more special occasion for awhile, so why not? It will be early up. We hauled hay today too. Boy, I am bushed. But maybe… I think I can, I think I can.

Dr McDonald was Louis McDonald who was then the president of NAU. Years before he had been the superintendent of Jerome Schools, so of course Dr Pecharich knew him. Dad actually did too and had taken photos of the high school graduation (in the same auditorium in which I graduated  in 1962) way back about 1947 or 48, when we were still new in Jerome.  Earlier I mentioned the “butterfly” fabric used in the dress I planned to wear  I cannot quite recreate the dress to sketch it but at one time I had said I might be married in it--right after Dusty left in March with our promise fresh in my mind. The whole issue with the herd is very vague now and where we ‘hid’ them stirs no memory at all. The trade with Bill Nichols had been made a few weeks earlier and was finally completed. Why the Boss would add more animals with the  looming possibility my daily work was going to cease, I have no idea! I guess he really did not expect that to happen. I guess I didn't either. But it did… September 7, 1966 is a blank page in the red notebook I was using for my journal. I covered it the next day, so here is that:

September 8, 1966

I lie here on my bed in Morton Hall at 4:00 PM and wonder “Wha’ happened?” We came up yesterday and waited until 1:00 to see Dr. McDonald, but it was perfect because he had a scholarship meeting at 2:00.  Meanwhile I moved into the dorm and met my roommate,  a ditzy blonde named Kim Korte from Phoenix. She reminded me a bit of Judy Crawford. The Boss went to town and returned about 5:00. He gave me all the cash he had,, about $15, and I signed the $100 check over to him. I ate in the dining hall the first time, went to the “President’s Reception” (for new students) and finally in bed to sleep.

This morning I woke at 6:30 and got up. Went to breakfast and reported to Dr. McDonald early. He was very jovial and sent me to see Dr. Schroeder, financial aid officer.  I waited a long while but it was worth it. I got a scholarship and grant totaling $600 per semester. I won’t have to work, just study like hell, make good grades, and enjoy myself.  I’m not sure what has happened but it has to have been miraculous! Then I went to see Dr. Downum who is my academic advisor. He is an absolute doll, really. He encouraged me to skip PE: “We hope they won’t catch up with it.” Now isn’t that nifty? So now all I have to do is register tomorrow morning and pick up my scholarship check and pay my fees.  I am so surprised and overwhelmed I hardly know what to say! I’ve been shopping most of the afternoon and now with Eve’s curse, I am exhausted but I think the walking helped. I’m going to relax ‘til dinner time. There is a tea and a movie this evening. I may go to one or both. I say “Why me?” but with a happy incredulity this time!

September 9, 1966

Standing in line all day is a killing deal. I was there from 7:00 until 11:00 Sheesh. But I got registered all right and got all my classes and will be done by 3:00 on Friday afternoons. That is about as good as I could ask, really. I went shopping again this afternoon. You can sure run through money in a hurry. But I get a $300 check Monday. With that I‘ll pay tuition, one period of room and board and buy books. That will about kill it but there is another $300 on the way. I whiled way the evening writing letters and reading and didn’t go to bed until 12:00. Shame, huh? But this fine leisure ends soon, like on Monday. I have four lousy classes on Monday.

Now for some explanations and clarifying and maybe asides. going back to the first few days. My brief high after the dinner with Mr McL faded fast as things were not very pleasant over that long weekend. I am not sure why I got discouraged but I did. There may have been some more papers to fill out and I had trouble getting cooperation on that.  But then September 7 happened. It passed in a blur. We stopped by the pasture on the way to Flagstaff; I am sure.  I guess Mom and Charlie Mike could have gone  but the boys were in school now. I can’t remember if I wore chore clothes and changed--I must have but that is a blank. We got to Flagstaff late morning and arranged the meeting with Dr McDonald. I almost held my breath but Dad pulled out "the charming" (whew)  and it went well. Still, all the rest of the day I was waiting. When was the sudden blow up, the shocking brutal emotional blackmail fit going to happen? I almost knew it would, so I was ready to say, “Just forget it. Take me home.” Somehow that never came. I still wonder at times. It may not have been cricket for me to give that $100 check to my family but no one ever said a word about it. That was not the only time I did such. 

I know today the idea of $600 for a semester’s expenses in collage is really shocking, almost unimaginable. It was not then. Remember, that seemed like riches to me--one who had bought postage by turning in pop bottles and celebrated when my grandma sent  $1.00 with her frequent letters. As the semester went on, she upped that to $5,00 a month and Uncle Dan sent me $100 a time or two. In all, I got by just fine. 

Don’t misunderstand "a doll";  Dr Downum was totally not a ‘hunk’ or a hot guy! He was about 60 and looked a perfect professor, slightly dowdy and very bookish. But he was very kind and always treated me like a daughter or granddaughter, gentle suggestions,  supportive,  encouraging and truly one of my rocks as I made this abrupt and almost impossible adjustment to morph from a cowboy girl into a coed! Today I could still drop to my knees and offer a hymn of thanks to those Powers that did this for me. No, it was not all sunshine and roses because real life is not, but it was mostly a huge blessing and I was never ungrateful and certainly had few regrets. My link to the prior life continued, weekends and holidays. It was not really severed  for a bit over a year  (fall 1967) and that roman ride held its share of rough points, but I always had the place in my new life to return to which I could count on. 

Photos.  Morton Hall, part of the North Quad women's dorm which ended up being my home for two years with a brief break down to Wilson Hall the summer between them. I carried my suitcase and a couple of boxes up those stairs that afternoon September 7, 1966. Then the red covered steno notebook that I bought in July 1966 which came to hold the record of this incredible saga! And the 'butterfly' fabric mentioned earlier that came from my California adventure.  I had debated what to make with it and  the special dress finally emerged. Wish I had a picture of it. I really loved it.

     

    

Filosophical Phriday Part II

 Filosophical Phriday or maybe Phucked Up  Filosophy

Note: No pictures or eye candy. This is just the force of my words standing on their own solid feet.

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I am not sure why I seem compelled yet again to discuss, defend, explain or share my political stance in this sadly divided county that is my home. But here I am.

 First, I grew to majority as basically a Liberal Libertarian, which might be called an oxymoron. I have always held for independence, responsibility and basically a patriotic feeling for my homeland and its emblems and classic documents. With age I grew slowly more Conservative but that can clash with Libertarianism also. Second I have not called myself a “Christian” nor now a “Cristyun’ Nationalist” at any point.  I was a rather conservative Pagan, another oxymoron. A Pagan I still am and always will be. In the last two decades or so I have shifted from  quasi-conservative activism (I still believe in property rights, minimalizing government control, ownership and ‘rules’ of anything and most of the ‘nanny state’ policies allegedly  created to take care of everyone) but the nuvo-conservatism has lost me totally.  I cannot go there. Period!

 To elaborate, I was raised by what I would term a flawed prototype for the Orange Man. For one thing he was not born rich to assume that level of entitlement but he was a narcissist and a ‘control freak’, fond of coining nasty nicknames for all but a very small circle of those he admired, and demanded absolute loyalty and obedience with dire consequences if you strayed an iota. He also sired and reared three kids, one girl and two boys.  However, he did not grab kitties; he said he loathed cats, and he was wed only once for life and was very much a prude in many ways.

 That brings me to this day. I simply cannot understand how any sane person could truly support and revere DJT in ANY way. He is foulness personified and as near a total opposite of “Jesus” or any other Divine personage as a human could be. He is a whiny, bratty three year old in his behavior and mentality, with no traits and abilities required to be a leader.  The only rationale for this adulation that I can imagine is these people have hidden--or even obvious --leanings toward bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and a streak of vicious meanness and bullyism. His absolute personification and example thus validates them.  I see them as equally despicable and cannot get past that even for former friends.

Now I go to those who say they dislike or despise him and yet will vote for him in November because 1) they simply cannot accept ‘Liberalism’ even on a temporary basis,  2) they still see him as strong, a ‘true’ patriot and the only way for the USA to ‘be all it can be’. These folks I feel have become literally poisoned by the ‘Orange Koolaid’ of lies and fictions so widely spread by the new Republicans and the Christian Nationalists that they are blinded to reality.(*list of examples available on request) I can barely accept this but still must try to convince one-time friends and folks I have respected to set aside the blinders briefly and see the light! If there were only a Narcan (Nalaxone) type antidote for this lethal drug!

 What do I then advocate? I go to the analogy I’ve been using: suppose you have a wolf just outside the screen door, clawing and about to break in where your kids or grands are playing, unaware. Meanwhile you also have an infestation of cockroaches in the kitchen. What do you try to nullify first?  My answer is to deal with the most immediate and serious danger at once. That means defeating the MAGA machine, thwarting it in every way I can. Then I’ll deal with any troublesome ‘leftist’ roaches. Operative rule is Lethal vs nuisance!!

I see the Republican Regime with Project 2025--which is absolutely NOT a creation and fiction of the Democrats/Leftists--as a very real threat with serious intent to totally erase and recreate this country as a Dictatorship and ultimately a “Christian” Theocracy. Their doctrine and laws will match or exceed those of the Taliban and Imams in abusive restrictions on every aspect of your life. It will also enthrone a system described by Elon Musk where government is absolutely controlled and limited to the “upper strata” of males--the White Uber-Wealthy Oligarchs. People of color and the ‘poor’ uneducated common folks are deemed worthless except to be beasts of burden for the Elite. And of course the inferior female half of humanity are also not ‘real’ humans for they are so stupid, flawed and lacking in skill or ability as to be useless except to bear children and perform menial tasks for the pleasure and comfort of the Elite. Feudalism was called “the Dark Ages’. What would we label this horror??

 I admire Kamala Harris for her determination and her willingness to tackle some of the toughest opposition a politician has ever faced. She has some valid ideas and at least serves to balance this opposite plan. I do NOT agree with many of her long-term plans and ideas nor those of her running mate but I do not fear that or condemn them so strongly that any other alternative is better! Once they are in office, I can do a smooth switch and begin to write letters, even perhaps organize protests or publicize all that I feel is going in the wrong direction but for now, I am going to axe that damn wolf.  Do you, gentle reader, dare to do the same?

 I challenge all who stand in fierce opposition to the ‘horrendous’ Liberal threat. Do you really deep down fear that their policies and programs will endanger and damage you so  badly or are you secretly, maybe not even admitting to yourself, actually appalled and scared shitless that a woman, actually a woman of color could be in charge of your government? 

Ha, I hear so much silence! “Next question, please.” You really do not want to answer that one!