OLD HAUNTS (PART SEVEN)

I DROVE AROUND MOST OF THAT SATURDAY.  SEEING MY FATHER MOWING THE LAWN AND THE FLOOD OF MEMORIES OVERWHELMED ME.  I WAS BEGINNING TO DOUBT WHETHER I COULD EVEN MEET THEM WITHOUT BREAKING DOWN.I REPEAT, TIME TRAVEL IS EXTREMELY FRAUGHT WITH MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL CHALLENGES.  THERE WERE NO LIMITS AS TO WHO I COULD CONTACT AS LONG AS I DID NOT REVEAL WHO I REALLY WAS.  I MADE A LONG LIST OF PEOPLE AND PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO SEE AS THEY WERE BACK THEN, WHICH HAPPENED TO BE MY RIGHT NOW.  AS I MENTIONED, MARK KEPPEL GRADE SCHOOL HAD A TON OF EMOTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.  YOU MIGHT REFRESH YOUR SELF WITH THAT BY READING THE POST THAT TELLS ABOUT THAT.  SATURDAY... IT WAS..BRIGHT AND CLEAR..SPARKLING, IN FACT.  I DEDICED TO GET THE MARK KEPPEL THING OVER WITH.  THERE IT WAS...THAT OLD RED BRICK BUILDING....TWO STORY WITH SPANISH TILE ROOF. I PARKED ON VIRGINIA ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE BLDG...THERE WAS THE LONG CHAIN LINK FENCE RUNNING DOWN THE WEST SIDE OF THE PLAYGOUND WHICH WAS THE BETTER PART OF HALF A CITY BLOCK...TOLL JR HIGH NEXT DOOR TOOK UP THE OTHER HALF.  THERE WERE THE SEVERAL WOOD BUNGALOWS THAT WERE BROUGHT IN LATER TO ACCOMODATE A GROWING NUMBER OF KIDS.  I WALKED AROUND THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING AND JUST "CASED THE JOINT" I WANTED TO LOOK INSIDE FRONT DOORS, BUT WONDERED IF I WOULD BE SPOTTED.  SPOTTED? THIS WAS 1952.  I WALKED UP THE WIDE ENTANCE WALK AND PASSED THROUGH THE DOUBLE ARCHED ENTRANCE.  THE ARCHES WERE A PART OF THE FACADE AND SUPPORTED IN THE MIDDLE BY A STONE COLUMN.  I PRESSED MY NOSE AGAINST THE GLASS AND IT ALL LOOKED SO HAUNTINGLY FAMILIAR.  THE OFFICE TO THE RIGHT....AND THE INTERIOR WALL BEYOND THE EAST WEST HALL.  I SAW THE DOORS TO THE CLASS ROOMS. I WALKED FURTHER EAST TO THE BORDER BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND THEN WALKED SOUTH TO THE FENCE.  THERE WAS THE LITTLE FENCED IN PLAY GROUND FOR THE KINDERGARDEN KIDS.  THERE WAS NO WAY TO THE INSIDE AS ALL GATES WERE CHAINED.  I HAD TO TAKE A CHANCE.  I SCALED THE FENCE AND WALKED TO THE BACK OF THE SCHOOL.  SO QUIET.  I TRIED  THE DOORS INTO SCHOOL FROM THE BACK..ALL LOCKED.  I TOOK A DRINK FROM THE OLD DRINKING FOUNTAIN THAT I REMEMERED SO WELL.  STILL THE SAME WATER...SAFE, BUT REMINDED THE DRINKER THAT THE WATER HAD COME THROUGH MILES OF OLD PIPE!  I SENSED A GROWING SPIRIT OF HAVING TO GET INSIDE.  I JUST HAD TO.  NONE OF MY INSTRUCTIONS FORBADE ME FROM BREAKING INTO A SCHOOL!!    I TRIED A SMALL WINDOW ON THE EAST END AND PUSHED UP....IT WENT UP.  I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY FORTUNE.  I LOOKED AROUND AND THEN SHIMMIED MY WAY IN.  I WAS IN THE KINDERGARTEN RESTROOM.  FROM THEN ON, IT WAS EASY GOING.  I WENT INTO THE KINDERGARTEN CLASS ROOM.....MRS PLATE AND MRS DIVEN....OH, HOW I WOULD LOVE TO MEET THEM.  OLDER LADIES AND SO VERY KIND,  THERE WERE THE BIG PAINT EASELS AND THE BIG JARS OF PAINT...LOTS OF VERY LITTLE CHAIRS IN A CIRCLE....WHEN I THINK OF THAT ROOM AGO, I THINK OF OIL CLOTH, BIG WOODEN BLOCKS, AND THOSE PAINT POTS .  I SAT  DOWN IN ONE OF THE LITTLE CHAIRS AND REMEMBERED LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY.  THE WAR WAS STILL ON AS IT WAS 1944.  WE KNEW SOMETHING REALLY HORRIBLE WAS GOING ON SOME WHERE.  THE SKY WAS ALIVE WITH FORMATIONS OF FIGHTER PLANES AND BOMBERS BEING FERRIED FROM LOCKHEED AND OTHER AIR CONCERNS.  THERE WAS CAMAFLAUGE NETTING OVER SAN FERNANDO ROAD.  THE SOUND OF ENGINES BEING RUN ON TEST BLOCKS AT GRAND CENTRAL...NIGHT AND DAY.  FAMILIES GATHERED AROUND THE RADIO AT NIGHT TO HEAR THE LASTEST REPORTS ABOUT OUR BOYS....I REMEMBERED THE LITTLE GIRL WHO HAD TAKEN A SPILL ON THE PLAYGROUND, AND RAN TO HER TEACHER, CRYING. WHEN WE CAME IN FROM OUR RECESS, SHE WAS STILL CRYING..BEING BOUNCED ON THE KNEE OF MRS PLATE.  WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THEM?  I WALKED AROUND THE INSIDE AND REMEMBERED.  IT WAS ABOUT HERE, I THOUGHT, THAT I GAVE JEANETTE A NOTE THAT TOLD HER I LOVED HER TOO.  IT WAS ABOUT HERE THAT MRS WHITE CAME OUT TO MEET ME FOR SOME REASON, I THINK I HAD BEEN OUT OF SCHOOL DUE TO SICKNESS, AND I HAD MY WORK TO DO AT HOME.  I HAD PASTED THE STRIPES ON OUR FLAG ON THE PAGE BACKWARDS, AND SHE CUT OUT A NEW FLAG FOR ME TO PASTE ON RIGHT..IT WAS A VERY MAGICAL DAY, AND THE BEST THING WAS, I WAS MORE PREPARED TO MEET MY FATHER, MY MOTHER, AND ME...(TO BE CONTINUED)