August 7, 2016
CLASS OF '76 RULES!!!
I don't know exactly WHAT we ruled, but if the graffiti I've seen spray- painted on bridges and water towers all over the country is any indication, that's what EVERY graduating class says about itself. So I'll just play along. Certainly we ruled over my high school's other classes of the late 1970's, but we were pretty sure we ruled over every graduating class in Oelwein, Iowa history. In 1976 we were young and hip and smart and we RULED THE WORLD!
Plus, there was some significance in the year of our graduation: It was the 200th anniversary of the United States of America. Our yearbook had some kind of "Spirit of '76" theme, complete with a cover photo of the Liberty Bell superimposed over The Declaration of Independence. Inside the front cover was a depiction of George Washington examining Betsy Ross's original American flag. Our class colors were (surprise!) red, white, and blue.
Hmmmmmmm. In retrospect, I don't remember any of us being all that patriotic. Call me a cynic, but I wonder if the members of the yearbook committee came up with that theme on their own or if it was "suggested" by the faculty supervisor, who was "advised" by the school administrators. Personally, I wish the theme would have been something like "Spirit of I Don't Care" or "Freaks of '76" or even something less ostentatious like "Regular Iowa Kids In High School."
And who came up with our class song? "Theme From 'Mahogany' (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) It's just plain embarrassing, and not just because of the poor grammar. There were plenty of songs from the 70's that were more meaningful to the majority of us. Again, I smell the influence of our principal and his cronies.
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That was then, as they say, and this is now. Since I live in a NOW world, I'll just say last night's class reunion was pretty fun even though I didn't recognize many of my old classmates and there were a few of them whose names I didn't even remember at all. Still, I enjoyed re-aquainting myself with a bunch of them and reminiscing. I'm a big nostalgiac at heart. Also, I'm glad nobody brought up politics and nobody said "the Theme from 'Mahogany' is my all-time favorite song."
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A day in Iowa would not be complete without a bike ride, so I rode around Oelwein, visiting all of my old memorable sites. Very little was the same. Last night somebody told me about a farm outside of town where there are some zebras. Not boring at all! I rode a couple of miles of gravel, following the directions I was given, but I never saw them. [See Footnote]
Here's what I did see:
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[Footnote] A month later I visited my dad and I was still curious about the Iowa zebras. This time I found them.
Today's ride: 11 miles (18 km)
Total: 245 miles (394 km)
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