Look Back At Oak Ridge

By Nolan Bailey

Land sakes!  I've been called lots of things such as being a miscreant, a prevaricator, a curmudgeon, a procrastinator, and several other things, but now Charlie goes and "sez" that I'm loquacious.  That takes it all!  Now I jus' don't know whether Charlie means that I'm a long winded motor-mouth or merely a silver tongued curmudgeon.  Hmmm....  What the heck do I know, I never did get one of those "terminal" degrees.  I could never get focused, so I finished over 300 hours of college and am still "ignernt"...  Anyhow, my high school teachers thought that I would get a "terminal" degree from Angola or Sing Sing....<grin>


Here's another Oak Ridge reminiscence that I just remembered.

A Young Oak Ridge Male Chauvinist Pig

All of my early training in becoming a mischief began in Oak Ridge.  Like most homes in Oak Ridge, we had a small tool shed in our back yard that I liked to climb on top of.  I was only three or four at the time.  I thought that climbing up on the "tall" roof was a quite an accomplishment for a young adventurer.  It certainly had to be beyond the ability of any mere "sissy female."  Yep, I was a very early "Male Chauvinist Pig." 

One day, I got into trouble, again, and my mom began to chase me around the back yard to administer my daily "switching."  How I was going to get away to safety?  Then it came to me.   I ran to the "tall" tool shed and climbed right up to the top.  Surprise, surprise, my "female" mom climbed right up, too.  Then, I just knew that I finally "had her."  I ran to the front edge and jumped right off the highest part of the shed.  Lo and behold, and to my great surprise, the "female" jumped off behind me.  And, she had that "dad burned" peach tree limb in her hand.   Nolan's behind got another one of those daily "spankings," and I did gain some respect for the courage and ability of those lowly and "sissy females."  <grin>

N

Here is a photo of the "extremely tall" work shed.    My dad is inside working on something or other, I'm holding the family bird dog, and Oak Ridge homes are in the background.