The task? Climb a rope in gym class

I started junior high in September 1964, taking seventh-grade classes at Norco Junior High in Norco, California. I had gym class in the afternoon five days a week. In those days, California officials were putting a big emphasis on physical fitness.

Hi, I’m Mike Staton and I wrote this blog post.

In late October 1965, my family moved from Norco all the way across the USA to Wadsworth, Ohio. When I began classes in Wadsworth Junior High, I expected to be taking gym class all five days a week. That wasn’t the case. I only had gym twice a week. To say I was surprised would be a bit of an understatement.

In Norco, the gym teacher didn’t have his students climb a rope hanging from a rafter in the gym. It was different in Wadsworth. In gym class one day in eighth grade, I was told to climb a rope. Being from California, I was in pretty good shape since I took gym class every school day. So I grabbed the rope and shimmied up it all the way to where it was tied to a rafter. That success surprised me. I thought I’d fail.

Do you remember having to do a rope climb in gym class?

Wadsworth Junior High had another activity I don’t recall having to play when I took gym class in Norco: Dodge ball. I think most folks remember playing this sport when they were in school. I don’t really need to explain the rules or how much it hurt when a volleyball smacked you in the chest. Enough to say I wasn’t a fan of the sport.

Dodge ball…another painful experience in gym class.

The junior high in Wadsworth had been the high school in olden times, but a new high school had been built in the early 1960s. The former high school had an old-fashioned basket court that had doubled as a theater setup. We played dodge ball on the basketball court. I never lasted very long. The opposing team seemed to take delight in causing pain. The ball invariably left a bright red spot on my skin. I survived – barely. Hey, I’m kidding. But it really was survival of the fittest. A fine example of evolution in action.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

Walking to school vs riding a school bus

Earlier this week I was on the way to an area medical complex to get an X-ray of my right leg. Halfway there I passed a long line of cars of parents waiting for their kids to end their elementary-school day.

My name’s Mike Staton and I wrote this blog post.

That’s something that was never seen when I was in elementary school in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Me and my friends walked the four blocks to the elementary school in the town of Rialto, California. And at school’s end, we walked home. Rarely did a mother pick up a kid. My mom was invariably seated in the den watching a soap opera when I opened the front door.

I didn’t have to ride a school bus until we moved to Corona, California, in 1964 and I began attending Norco Elementary and then Norco Junior High.

Those close-together schools were too far for walking. To reach those schools, I had to walk a couple of miles along a dirt path winding through several hills. My family had moved into a new housing development on the outskirts of Corona. Kids walked to the entrance of the development where we took a bus to school.

I was once like these two kids. I walked to and from Meyers Elementary School in Rialto, California.

When we returned at the end of the school day, I’d often go into a nearby model home and pester the sales lady. She enjoyed chatting with 12-year-old me. Those model homes and their furnishings fascinated me.

In sixth and seventh grade, I first became aware that girls my age were becoming discerningly cute and adorable. As I waited for the bus to get to the development’s entrance, I’d sometimes sit with Cynthia on a waist-high brick wall and flirt with her. She lived one street away from me, and before too long I was walking her home after the bus dropped us off. Sadly, her family moved to Nevada at the beginning of eighth grade. As the eighth grade started, Cynthia was going ‘steady’ with a boy and it wasn’t me. It meant I no longer sat with her on the bus during school days.

After the family moved to Corona, California, I found myself taking a school bus to and from school.

Mid-way through the eighth grade, my family moved from California to Wadsworth, Ohio. We lived in a two-story house in the country a mile from the Wadsworth city limits. That meant taking the bus to and from Wadsworth Junior High and later Wadsworth High School. The bus would stop right in front of my house, which meant hardly any walking at all. That was convenient in the late afternoon. It meant I could race into the house just in time to watch Dark Shadows.

In the summer before 11^th grade, dad moved us to southeast Ohio where I attended Fort Frye High School until I graduated in May 1970. No bus this time. I walked two blocks to and from the school. Déjà vu, eh? Yep, just like my days walking to and from Meyers Elementary School in Rialto.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.

Remembering the life of a journalism intern

Nowadays, I find myself looking back more and more to my college days.

Hi, name’s Mike Staton and I wrote this blog post.

Back then I had decided to become a newspaper journalist. I’d taken a typing test to prove I had the skill to type at least 40 words per minute. And I passed, although with a few typos. So I began taking the courses would-be journalists were taking at Ohio University.

Don’t remember whether I was a sophomore or junior, but I became an intern at the Athens Messenger during one quarter. It allowed me to learn if I truly wanted to make a career in the newsroom business.

My assignments were not challenging. In fact, they were a bit on the boring side to be honest.

Notebook in hand, I’d go to meetings of civic groups and write about the guest speakers – Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc. Often, the speakers would talk about foreign trips. Or maybe a speaker had been with the Peace Corps and could talk about his or her experiences in Africa or South America.

A long time ago, but I was once a journalism intern at a small daily newspaper in Ohio.

I didn’t have a car and so would hitchhike to the Messenger building, which was located on the outskirts of Athens. That would have been circa 1972, long before you’d find a personal computer on a newsroom desk. The reporters and editors had to make do with a typewriter.

Well, I guess interning was a satisfying experience. I didn’t abandon journalism. Worked as a reporter and editor for twenty-plus years at daily and weekly newspapers in Ohio, Florida and North Carolina. Plus, I won some reporting awards in Florida and North Carolina.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

Yep, Monday’s solar eclipse day

We’re getting close to a pivotal day – Monday’s long-awaited 2024 total solar eclipse.

Hi, I’m Mike Staton and I authored this blog post.

Here in SE Ohio in the village of Beverly, it won’t be total. It’ll be close, around 95 percent of the sun will be blocked by moon starting at approximately 3:09 in the afternoon.

Weather forecasters are not cooperating, though. They’re calling for cloudy skies in the Beverly area. Too bad the eclipse isn’t happening on Sunday afternoon. The forecasters say the skies will be partly cloudy. Let’s be optimistic. At least they’re not calling for rain.

We don’t need any more rain in this area. Right now we’re experiencing flooding. The Muskingum River has overflowed its banks. Twenty miles to the south, the county seat of Marietta is inundated in floodwater where the Muskingum flows into the Ohio River.

Come Monday in the USA, some people will see a total eclipse; others will see a partial eclipse. Of course, it all starts with clear skies.

Back to the solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse occurred on July 20, 1963, although it wasn’t total where I lived at the time – Rialto, California. I was 11 years old in July of that year. I was absorbed in Little League baseball that summer, but was aware enough to know that a solar eclipse would happen on July 20^th.

I’d done some reading, and knew I shouldn’t look directly at the sun during the eclipse. It could damage my eyes. Somewhere I’d read about how to build a viewing box that would allow me to see an image of the eclipse. So I built the box.

This time, though, I intend to view using special eclipse glasses. From what I understand, the local branch of the county library will be providing glasses while they last.

Up at Wolf Lake in Michigan, some of my cousins built box contraptions to watch the 1963 solar eclipse. In California, I did the same.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, totally or partly obscuring the sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon’s apparent diameter is at least the same size as the sun’s (or larger), blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. I can’t wait.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

Never could compete with Christine

Her name was Christine. We were in the fourth grade together at Meyer’s Elementary School in Rialto, California. I don’t remember her last name. I just remember she was a prolific reader.

Hi, I’m Mike Staton and I wrote this blog piece.

Our teacher, whose name I also don’t recall, had attached a poster to one of the classroom walls. It had the names of pupils and a running list of the books we had read. Christine had a big lead. I was in second place, way behind her.

Christine read thick books about girl detectives. I read thinner books about my baseball heroes and books about the new age of space exploration – astronauts flying rockets to the moon and Mars.

I loved going to the school’s library. Guess what? I’d usually find Christine there. Did I talk to her? Nope. I don’t recall us being close friends. I had a girl buddy and it wasn’t Christine.

My elementary school classmate Christine read a ton of these detective novels written by author Carolyn Keene.

My girl buddy lived two houses away from me. Her name was Laura Wagner and she was a heck of a good baseball player. I don’t think Christine ever threw a baseball or even tried.

I don’t hold that against Christine. Why play catch with a boy chum when you can read a Nancy Drew novel by author Carolyn Keene?

Remember earlier when I wrote that Christine read thicker books? Mine were much smaller, leaving me time to play catch with Laura. I loved reading, but I also loved sports.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.

Mom, how about lunch money for a sloppy joes?

Most of the time mom packed a lunch for me when I headed off to elementary school back around 1960.

Hi, I’m Mike Staton and I wrote this blog post.

I always looked forward to buying a new lunchbox at the start of the school year. My choice depended on the artwork. It had to have a space-exploration theme.

However, one day a week mom would give me money to buy a hot meal. Why? Because sloppy joes was on the menu.

Back then I loved my mom’s sloppy joes. The school cafeteria’s sloppy joes weren’t too bad either. I was more than happy to forego for a day a sandwich heaped with Oscar Meyer’s sandwich spread. Remember it? The spread was quite popular at one time but was discontinued in 2009.

The only time I wanted to eat the school cafeteria’s hot meals was when sloppy joes was on the menu.

But if left a choice between Oscar Meyer’s sandwich spread and sloppy joes, I’d take the latter. It’s always been that way for me. Even as a young reporter covering a high school football game on a Friday night, if I noticed sloppy joes at the concession stand, I couldn’t resist. Heck with the game. Better to eat a sloppy joes sandwich. The game could wait.

Mom’s been with the Lord since 2003. Thankfully, my sister Jody does a good imitation of mom’s sloppy joes.

In the meantime, maybe I’ll have a splendid dream about eating sloppy joes in the cafeteria at Meyers Elementary School in Rialto, California.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

Remembering the Age of Typewriters

I miss my typewriter. It was an Underwood from the 1940s. Lucky for me, I could still buy ribbons for it in the 1970s and the 1980s. But after I bought my first computer, a desktop Compact, I found less and less use for that antique typewriter.

Hi, I’m Mike Staton and I’m the author of this post.

I now own a Hewlett Packard Pavilion laptop, purchased for me by a good friend of mine when we lived together in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas. And my typewriter is nowhere to be found.

I used that black-colored typewriter to write my first novel and as well as some early short stories, all done in the 1970s before the era of personal computers.

In those days, I’d write out a draft of the novel on paper and then use the typewriter to type up my words. If I made a typo, I’d use write-out tape or fluid to correct the mistake.

Nowadays, I still use a typewriter-style keyboard on my laptop and have done so for my six published novels as well as the one I’m writing now. And if I make a mistake? It’s easily fixed using the delete key. No need for write-out.

I loved learning to use a typewriter. I wrote my first novel using an antique Underwood typewriter.

I’m still not sure what happened to my typewriter, given to me as a birthday present when I turned eighteen. I probably sold it at a yard sale when I lived in Leesburg, Florida, in the late 1980s.

To be honest, I prefer using my laptop to write my novels.

By the way, while googling to find some photos of old typewriters, I found some that look like mine that were selling for $450. Wow. I should have held onto it.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

In my early teenage years, some books were off-limits

When I was a teenager in the mid to late 1960s, a state governor didn’t decide what I could and couldn’t read. My parents decided.

Hi, I’m Mike Staton and I wrote this post.

I can think of one prime example. Back in ninth grade, I wanted to read ‘Coffee, Tea Or Me?’ My parents wouldn’t allow me, though. A trip to the bookstore or to the library would be futile. I’d never be able to buy or check out Coffee, Tea or Me?

What was so bad about it? Here’s what one website says: “Coffee, Tea or Me? is a book of purported memoirs by fictitious stewardesses Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones. It turns out the book was written by the initially uncredited Donald Bain and first published in 1967. The book depicts the anecdotal lives of two lusty young stewardesses and was originally presented as factual.”

When I was 14, I wanted to read this book but my parents wouldn’t allow it.

It’s obvious why fourteen-year-old me wanted to read it. I wanted to learn about the women’s sex lives and get some pointers.

Sadly, I never got the opportunity to read it. My parents did the censoring, not the state or federal government.

I recall another book I wanted to read at the age where kids wonder obsessively about sex. It was titled The Naked Ape. The title alone fascinated me. I thought it was about sex. Actually, it was about evolution. I can see why my mother, a woman of deep faith, didn’t want me reading the book. Later in life, we’d have lively debates about evolution.

Written by zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape is a 1967 book that looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals.

Wasn’t allowed to read this book either. Probably because it was about evolution.

As a novelist, I don’t like the idea of government censorship. On the other hand, parents should be able to be parents and review and sometimes forbid their children from reading a book. Once I was in college, I read whatever I wanted to read. To be honest, I read what I wanted to read at a much earlier age – at seventeen or eighteen.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

Let’s pile into the car and go to the drive-in theater!

Both as a child and a young adult, I loved going to the drive-in movie theater.

Hello, readers. I’m Mike Staton and I wrote this blog post.

My earliest memory is going to see “Cinderella” at a drive-in theater in Rialto, California. I must have been five or six at the time. Rialto is where my dad moved us to in 1957 after his aerospace company transferred him out to a rocket manufacturing plant near the Southern California town.

I’d often see that drive-in from U.S. 66, the main drag in Rialto, as dad drove us to the supermarket or to an ice-cream parlor to eat a sundae or an ice-cream cone. But I don’t recall ever actually going inside the gates of the drive-in to see another movie. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in college that I went to another one. Here’s what I remember.

I went on double date to a drive-in theater just outside Parkersburg, West Virginia. My friend set me up with a girl in high school who lived across the street from him. I’m not one hundred percent sure of the movie we saw. It might have been “The Hitch Hiker,” a very forgettable movie produced in the early 1970s.

What I do remember was a very heavy make-out session in the backseat. I didn’t initiate it. She did. She liked to kiss. Now isn’t that what drive-in movie theaters are supposed to be famous for?

Ah, yes, the memories. Going to a drive-in movie theater with your sweetie.

After I graduated in 1974, I took a job as a newspaper reporter in Lancaster, Ohio. I lived in an upstairs apartment on West Fair Avenue. Traveling to and from my apartment, I’d see movies playing on a screen of a drive-in theater on Fair Avenue. One night, I got curious. Saw where a movie about bed-hopping nurses was playing. Decided to go see it. Very forgettable movie. But I hadn’t been to a drive-in theater in several years. Went by myself, didn’t ask anyone to accompany me. Who else but yours truly would have wanted to see that ridiculous movie?

The signs say it all. I’d buy popcorn and a candy bar.

The last time I went to a drive-in, it was a spur-of-a-moment decision. Happened about 1980. I was still living in Lancaster. For some reason now to obscure to remember, I had to go to Athens, Ohio, where my college, Ohio University, is located. A friend went along with me. There was a drive-in theater just outside Athens off U.S. 33. We decided to see a movie there. Again, I don’t remember the movie.

Since those days, I’ve lived in Florida, North Carolina and Nevada, and I don’t recall ever going to a drive-in theater while in those states. Wish I had. They’re like the dinosaurs…going extinct.

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I’m Mike Staton and I’m an author with six published novels. Three are sword and sorcery novels, and the last three have American Civil War settings. The latest, which debuted on May 1, takes place during Reconstruction in North Carolina, and stars a newspaper editor, and his wife, a graphic artist. It’s part of a four-book series that will see my main characters head westward into the American frontier in the final novel, now being written. I’m currently writing that fourth book, which I’ve titled ‘A Wyoming Dawn: A New Beginning.’

The Animal Kingdom Invaded

by Neva Bodin

Here are some critters’ stories of the awful invaders of their animal kingdom—our camp of vehicles, campers, and people settling into what had been a vacant farmyard for a long time where I grew up. I am going to share some more of the critter’s stories from our month-long stay preparing for and holding my family estate auction…

What is all this stuff? This was my second trip to my usual hunting grounds for the night. Several nights ago, I was sniffing along the edge of a large building and jumped when a short distance away, a human in a red nightgown stepped out of a building that hadn’t been there before! The human was closing the door and disappeared inside again. But not before my fright caused me to, ahem, lose a little scent. I wonder if she smelled it?

Now, several days later, I was cautiously edging closer to a lot of things spread out where I usually walk. Still pretty light, but I didn’t think they would see me. All of a sudden a couple humans came running and I turned and ran too! I could hear clapping noises and voices shouting.

I didn’t understand the meaning, but the words sounded like “Run Skunk Run. Run fast and don’t come back!” Whatever. I ran to the edge of the yard and turned left and scrambled as fast as I could. I didn’t go back as long as those creatures were there. At least not so they saw me.

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            What is all this? There are funny-looking houses and things all around. Usually, I can walk through here, and I only see the raccoon or the skunk. I smell humans. Are they dangerous? I’ll walk very slowly and keep my eyes wide open. There are lots of strange smells in the air.

            But it’s quiet. Maybe I should wait a little while when it’s really dark. Then all the fireflies will show up, too.

            Let’s see, each foot carefully placed in the tall grass… Oh! I hear a noise. I’ll freeze. It’s coming from that small building that hasn’t been there before.

            Silence. I’ll go closer. OK. Close enough. I better turn around. I hope no one is watching. I’ll walk, then jog, then walk. I don’t want to break into a gallop and draw too much attention. I’ll come back another time. Back to the trees!

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            I don’t understand how to get some peace around here. I know this is the city, but this hanging basket is a perfect nest. The flowers help me hide, and smell good as I sit here. These kids better be grateful when they hatch—if they hatch. There is so much activity now….

            The people who lived here when I laid the eggs are gone and many people keep running by carrying boxes and furniture. Makes me nervous. Especially the short ones who are noisy and try to reach my nest. At least no one took my nest. But I’m nervous about leaving it to go eat.

            Oh, how I hope my babies don’t make too much noise and get too much attention from these beings in this big house. They can watch my babies grow and fly away if they leave me alone.

Wow, isn’t this grand? So many legs going by to cling to. Even when some make a trip through the grass to that old building no one usually uses. Have to admit, it’s not as easy hitching a ride after the grass was mowed, but it’s still possible!