I laugh when I think back on the mischief I was involved in during my school years. Nearly all of it was innocuous. None of my mischief was of the “over-the-top” caliber portrayed in so many of those teen “high school” themed movies. To say none of it went farther than we intended, or that none of it got our parents involved would be untrue, but most of our efforts went into creating fun public spectacles and causing a good amount of harmless amusement or consternation for adults.
In keeping with the “spectacle and consternation” theme, we went through dizzying amounts of toilet paper, lawn paint, cellophane, thread, water balloons, fire crackers, sulfur, etc; all tools of “the trade”. Which friend to hang out with was often decided by who had the best mischief plan for the day. During the summer, we could create day-long programs of mayhem. If we got home before our parents did and no police cars were waiting for us, everything was good; and we made sure it always was good because we feared our parents more than we did the police.
Every year, as Halloween approaches, I recall one act of mischievous brilliance which was renowned for its spectacular high visibility. In downtown Westchester, California, at the corner of West Manchester Avenue and South Sepulveda Boulevard, in front of the international House of Pancakes restaurant stands an imported, Italian Marble, ten-foot-tall sculpture of a man with reins in hand standing next to his horse. The statue has been there since at least 1960. Since the statue’s arrival, it has been a frequent target for mischief.
I attended junior high school not far from that intersection. That statue stood in front IHOP’s predecessor, Home Savings & Loan back then. We used to stop at the Save-On Drug Store across the street from the S&L on our way home from school to get ice cream cones. I can see that statue clearly in my mind’s eye. Sometimes the man holding the horse would have flowers in his hand with the reins. Sometimes a mannequin would be perched upon the horse. But, every Halloween, without fail, someone would find a huge pumpkin, hollow it out, carve a face on it and place it over the horseman’s head! Being marble, the statue wasn’t damaged by the pumpkin which adorned it until the fruit rotted away.
I had to know if this was a short-lived prank and if anyone else from my junior high remembered the sight. I posted the question on the school’s alumni Facebook page and received over 100 responses from members spanning classes from the 1960’s to the present! Each one remembered seeing the pumpkin-headed horseman and many of the younger members assured me the tradition continues. Some even “fessed up” to being the ones responsible for placing the pumpkin, including one whose accomplices ran as the police arrived and ended-up having a police officer help him hoist the squash! Everyone wants to see photos of this year’s contribution to this good, harmless, fun-for-all mischief!
If you’re including some mischievous trickery with your Halloween treats, I hope it’s as harmless and its memories as cherished and long-lived as Westchester’s pumpkin-headed horseman!
© 2017 Curt Savage Media curtsavagemedia.com
Do you ever hike, walk or jog in our nearby parks? The walking paths in our city and township parks are marked with highly visible signs leading the walkers or joggers along to the next sections of the paths. The maintained hiking trails through our state parks are marked less garishly with signage that blends better with the scenery. These trails are still fairly easy to follow if you watch for the signs. When hiking through long stretches of open country on minimally maintained trails, one must know what trail markers to look for. If blazes are missed, hikers can easily wander off the trail and become lost.
Our daughter had her eyes checked recently. We found she will need glasses to correct her vision. Gone is the social stigma attached to wearing glasses; they’re cool now. “I got turquoise frames that you can see through Dad” she excitedly told me when she came home from the appointment. “So – you’re not afraid of having your eyes checked anymore” I asked. ‘No!” She said “Because now, I’ll look really smart and be able to see things clearly.” I agreed both of those are good things.
d of the power of maternal instincts; a set of behaviors exhibited by mothers especially, but also by nearly all women regardless of whether they are mothers or not; behaviors including nurturing, providing care for and, most prominently, protecting others – especially children. Some refer to it as the “Mother Bear” syndrome. Maternal instincts are stronger in some women than in others. Feats of superhuman strength have been attributed to women trying to save their children, or others, from peril. This is a brief account of one such mother.
Not Words Alone from Curt Savage Media 