winding down

So there you go I was a normal well adjusted young child growing up in Portland Oregon, the fifties were years of celebration and innocence , the sixties were in the future and few clouds could be seen on the horizon.
As my adventures escalated I was becoming more aware of the background noises , the static of the world I was growing up in. I remember listing to the radio in 1953 that the Koren war had come to a uneasy end. I was aware in the same year that we had a new President of the United States a war hero name Dwight D Eisenhower. Each year brought more and more awareness of the world I had been invited into During this period from 1953 to 1960. I didn't know it at the time but I was a Boomer, part of a great wave of children born as World war two ended and hundreds of thousands of young men and women settled down , after the brutal World wide conflict. The parents of the boomers were gracious and giving , no expense was spared to build schools and playgrounds. Boomer parents wanted above all else that their children live in a world that was better than the world they remembered before the War began. I think they also knew there would be a cost and they were prepared to pay it, roads were built , schools were raised , college's were getting record enrollments.
American Victory in World war 2 gave Americans a profound sense of moral certitude , good had triumphed over evil , and we were very good. There are a great number of books that explore this period in our countries History , this is not one of them , I care to note that growing up in Portland Oregon between 1953 and 1960 was not growing up in a vacuum ..the politics of the nation and the politics of the world were a backdrop to my life , my growth and my understanding of the world.
These early years were helping me to lay down a foundation that I would continue to build upon for the rest of my life. early in my life I was Diagnosed with Asthma which usually manifested itself in the form of severe Hay fever , from a very early age I was taking shots for this affliction, the shots were given to me at a doctors office about a mile and a half from where I lived so twice a week I would walk either with my mother or by myself to the clinic and receive two shots in each arm. While pretty annoying , these shots allowed me to participate after a few years in most outdoor activities. For several years I spent much of my time indoors and with little or no television available I discovered the magic of books , I read voraciously devouring books at an amazing rate. I was interested in science and nature and in the classics. I spent long hours at the Hillsdale Library which had recently opened. IN the third grade we were required to read at least one book per month and I was reading one a day. I was becoming a nerd and was unhappy with this development , I would hide my glasses when I went to school and I would try to excel in sports and and adventure often failing spectacularly. I quickly began a pattern of easily getting the highest grades in my tests and neglecting to turn in homework ...as a result I recieved the grades of an average student , and was also involved in several accelerated programs for above average students as well , I was in a speracil language class that taught German as a second language , and I was in the Seventh and Eight grade special science class which I was admitted to when I was in the Fourth Grade .
Both of these honors were readily embraced by my parents. Neither my mother or father had graduated from High School , yet both of them had a profound appreciation of education, My mother would spend long hours with both my brother and I using what were called flash cards , these flash cards were designed to assist us with Math and Language skills. Reading was encouraged and expected in our home , and both my Brother Bob and I were encouraged to have discussions with the adult friends of my parents. My father assisted both bob and I in our interests , he helped with Science fair projects and drove us to the Library even when bone tired and weary from his physically challenging job of lineman / tree trimmer for Portland general electric . My parents were not only concerned about our education they were also interested in our spiritual well being so they started taking us to the Hillsdale Community Church just a few blocks away. On Sundays we would go to Sunday School class , Bob and I went downstairs to the children's class , and my Mother and Father would stay upstairs. We would then meet together upstairs to hear the message sing songs and pass the offering plate.
In class we would talk about Jesus and the Disciples and the hero's of the Bible , Noah , we spent allot of time on Noah and Joseph. Our Church had lots of Youth activities and potlucks and seemed to be very pleasant. I have no negative recollections of my early Church life , and in fact learned to enjoy wearing my suit and tie to the service. If I had to choose I would say I enjoyed the later part of the service the most , espicially the songs ...even at a very early age I had several favorite songs that I enjoyed hearing . MY father had a pretty good voice and I enjoyed hearing him sing I come to the Garden alone , and the Old Rugged Cross . Years latter we would sing that song at his funeral.
My mother did not work outside of the home , when I came home from school she was there , and usually with some kind of treat , cupcakes , cookies , jello and kool-aide When we burst through the door mom would ask about our day and we would give her the highlights , sometimes we had friends with us and they would be welcome and fed as well. If we went to a friends house after school always let Mom know in advance that was our plan and where ever we went there would a mom there as well with cupcakes, cookies, Jello and kool-aide.