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瑞奇的世界
Neatness Freak......Often people come down on me for being organized and call me a "Neatness Freak". I wasn't always organized but became that way for a very good reason so let me explain. My desk at school was always a mess and my teacher came down on me to clean it. Sometime I missed recess or had to stay after school. Actually it wasn't as messy as some of the other kids desks as I recall. Apparently one day my teacher told me to come in on my lunch hour early and clean it......I honestly don't remember her saying that so after lunch I returned to school and played wall tag with the other kids until the bell rang. Once in the class room the public address speaker located high above the teachers desk blared and the unmistakable voice was that of Mrs. Atkinson requesting my presents in her office....NOW! ...Oh shit, what did I do? Mrs. Atkinson was our principle and she was VERY strict and scary and had a reputation to match her demeanor! As I entered the office her beady black eyes pierced me and I began to melt and she said " Mr. Boos why didn't you come in and clean your desk today? I was momentarily speechless and wondered what she was talking about. Was I going to meet the famous rumored "paddling machine" that was located in her office? I told her I honestly didn't recall being told to come in......and I honestly didn't!!!! What you have to remember, I was never a trouble maker and quite shy so this was a scene out of a scary movie!!! Pete Lanaza, the boys gym teacher, stood by her side and bellowed out " I will help you to remember..... Tomorrow you WILL forget about lunch and run laps for me! Pete was a big man straight out of the Marine Corps honest to God! You didn't dare cross him! So the next day at dinner time I reported to the gym as ordered. Pete said he wanted me not only run laps around the gym but also up and down the balcony steps at full speed! As I ran around the gym and up and down the many flights of steps he yelled out "Pick it up!!!" 45 minutes Latter I was totally exhausted my face was beat red, my legs were like rubber, and I thought my heart was going to pop out! Pete said " I hope that helps you to remember and that you keep your desk clean!" I sure the hell wasn't going to tell him that I still didn't remember her telling me to come in so I returned back to the classroom all red faced and legs like rubber. To this very day I have to wonder if the teacher actually told me to come in or not.... I just didn't hear her if she did but one thing for sure I never had another messy desk! By the way I really have nothing but love and respect for Mrs. Atkinson and Pete Lanaza....they were both great even though there was an apparent misunderstanding. From that moment on I became what some people refer to me as a "Neatness Freak!" Oh, by the way I found out that day that the famed "Paddling Machine" was nothing more then the P.A. system and other office equipment! The real paddling machine was the board of education that Pete Lanaza had in HIS office .....a wood paddle with swiss cheese holes bored in it! I never experienced it! The above speaker is from the very room I got that scary request to report to the office. I kept it as a souvenir of this memorable event!
美元钞票......我有一位从未见过的叔叔，名叫埃迪。埃迪叔叔在第二次世界大战期间在瓜达尔卡纳尔岛阵亡，爸爸总是告诉我，我让他想起了他的兄弟。小时候，我一直对这个人着迷，这个我从未有幸见过的人。在奶奶和爷爷家，他们家的墙上挂着一张巨大的证书，上面有罗斯福总统的签名，以纪念他的逝世。我总是敬畏地凝视着它，任由思绪飘荡。早年，他的车还停在车道上。有一天，我打开车门，坐在车里。天哪，那辆车和今天的汽车太不一样了！在其中一间卧室的墙上挂着爸爸、埃迪叔叔和爷爷的照片，他们是战争年代的三位勇士。天哪，我被迷住了！床头上方挂着一张一美元钞票，引起了我的注意。它被放在一个风化的自制相框里。我问奶奶和爷爷，那一美元为什么在那里，为什么它如此重要。他们说那是一张一美元的钞票，是艾迪叔叔在父亲节送给我祖父的。爷爷奶奶或爸爸很少谈论战争年代和艾迪叔叔。这些年来我获得的信息都是在大人们互相交谈时从对话中得到的。后来，当他们谈论这件事不再那么痛苦时，我才知道了整个故事。我仍然对艾迪叔叔很着迷，这个我从未见过的人，知道爸爸多年前告诉我的话，我有点觉得和他很亲近。我曾多次参观过他和他船员在阿灵顿的墓地。当你进入那个历史悠久的地方时，他们有一座巨大的纪念碑来纪念他们。就在我祖母去世前，她给了我那张镶在相框里的一美元钞票作为纪念品。我会永远保留它！她去世后，我们正在打扫她的房子，我被允许保留挂在墙上的爸爸、爷爷和艾迪的所有照片。后来，妈妈给了我爸爸保存的 Eddie 叔叔的物品，包括战争期间发给他的小圣经。这些对我来说都是真正的宝藏，我会永远珍惜它们！当我的儿子 Scott 出生时，我一定要给他起一个特别的中间名来纪念我的叔叔。Eddie 叔叔……你永远是我特别的英雄！！！！……附言……小时候，我也继承了同样的传统，在父亲节那天送给爸爸一张一美元的钞票，并在上面写了一张便条。他一生都把它放在钱包里一个特别的地方。他去世后，妈妈把钱包和签名的美元钞票给了我。
手指上挂着鱼钩……我年轻的时候喜欢去钓鱼。每年我们都会在密歇根州的科尔德沃特度过整整两周。每年我都会像爷爷一样得到一顶新的钓鱼帽。我不得不这样做，因为我妈妈总是把破烂的那顶扔掉……这是我永远无法理解的！去城里买一顶新帽子是一件大事，我想那时候它们要花一毛钱！罗恩和我当时总是用鱼竿钓鱼，这很有趣。我们会在码头上钓鱼，有时在水里钓鱼，如果我们表现好的话，爸爸会带我们和爷爷一起坐船出去钓鱼！密歇根州科尔德沃特的湖水清澈见底，而且很深。当我们和爸爸和爷爷一起坐船出去时，水大约有 100 英尺深！这让我很害怕，因为那时我根本不会游泳，所以我不得不穿上救生衣。那时我们会用各种各样的鱼饵，如果虫子和蟋蟀用完了，我们还可以借助饼干里的棉花糖，而且很管用！！！！！有一天，我在码头上钓鱼，鱼钩不知怎么的缠在了我的手指上，我拔不出来。怎么办？我做了最糟糕的事情，拖着鱼竿跑回小屋。等我回到爸爸妈妈身边时，鱼钩已经深深地陷入我的手指里了！我们去了医院，我吓得要死！到了医院，医生看了看，做了最糟糕的事情，给我打了两针！一针是麻醉部位，第二针是破伤风针，真的很疼！我已经是个大孩子了，没有哭，所以爸爸后来带我去了 A&W 根汁啤酒摊。哇，难道你不喜欢圆满的结局吗？
陀螺仪......正如我在上一篇文章中所说，我最喜欢的圣诞节和生日礼物并不总是昂贵的礼物，而且更多时候是价格不到一美元的礼物！小时候，我总是对陀螺仪和它能做的许多花样着迷。事实上，我现在仍然着迷！当然，我知道陀螺仪在火箭和航天器的制导系统中的重要性，但尽管如此，我仍然感到惊讶。我会花上几个小时玩我的陀螺仪，试图弄清楚它能实现什么新壮举。是的，我仍然有我的陀螺仪，但外缘多年来已经失去光泽。我现在很惊讶你仍然可以买到原装的全金属陀螺仪，但它们的尺寸要小一些，这并不奇怪。不要把钱浪费在廉价的塑料陀螺仪上，一分钱一分货！
毛绒玩具大战......晚上表弟来拜访时，我和弟弟总是玩得很开心。我们会在外面玩到天黑，然后被叫回家吃点零食，然后就睡觉了。但乐趣并没有就此结束，正如你所看到的。我表弟睡在一间卧室，我和罗恩睡在另一间卧室，而我的姑姑、姑父和爸爸妈妈则在楼下打牌。我们总是很兴奋，相信我，我们远远没有准备好进入梦乡。我们经常去他们的房间，或者他们来我们的房间，我们总是会打毛绒玩具大战。多年来，罗恩和我很幸运，有很多毛绒玩具可以玩！不用说，父母听到了我们的声音，就会上楼来结束我们的乐趣……或者至少暂时结束。通常我们会等一会儿，然后继续我们之前中断的地方。经过几次警告后，他们发出了打屁股的威胁。他们是认真的，我们通常都会服从他们……直到下一次来访！最后，爸爸变聪明了，在两扇门的外面顶部都装上了钩锁。真是个笨蛋！罗恩和我，或者我们的堂兄堂妹们，绝对没有办法拿到门锁并打开它们......或者有办法吗？罗恩和我发现我们的门可以部分打开一条缝，如果我们用一把尺子往上推，我们就能打开门锁！有趣的时光又开始了！好吧，好心的老爸知道了这一点，因为他注意到我们的门没锁，他重新定位了门锁钩，确保门根本打不开！下次我们堂兄来的时候，罗恩和我有一个解决这个问题的好主意！两间卧室都位于我们前门廊上方。我们只需打开窗户，爬下门廊屋顶，走到我们堂兄卧室的窗户，让他们把窗户打开！令人惊讶的是，我们从来没有被抓住，因为我们知道如果我们被抓住，那将是真正的打屁股的理由！我记得有一次我们差点就睡着了，但罗恩和我设法爬回窗户，关上窗户，在爸爸进屋之前跳上床。罗恩和我假装睡着了，但爸爸知道得更多。他不知道的是，我们去了门廊屋顶外面，直到今天，我都怀疑他是否真的发现了！那些毛绒动物打架是值得一看的，也是一段珍贵的回忆！
清晨的香气......作为一个在 50 年代长大的孩子，我仍然记得寒冷的冬日早晨我们家里的清晨香气。自制面包、咖啡蛋糕、酵母甜甜圈、培根和鸡蛋、煎饼，当然还有咖啡的味道！天哪，我们家不需要闹钟，因为房子闻起来就像面包店！今天坐下来想起来，我不知道妈妈是怎么做到的，但她总是让我想起劲量兔子，现在仍然如此！妈妈 是个了不起的厨师，小时候的我认为这是理所当然的。她总是确保我们吃得好，而且我们经常有美味的甜点，比如自制的蛋糕、馅饼或饼干！即使在她去教堂的星期天，我们也会吃牛肉或猪肉烤肉或鸡肉晚餐，配上自制的土豆泥和肉汁，还有一些蔬菜。这些清晨的香气已经过去很多年了，但我永远不会忘记它们。即使到了 91 岁，她仍然有出色的感恩节、圣诞节和复活节大餐！妈妈，我会永远记住这些回忆，它们没有被忽视！！！！！......谢谢你！
谁还记得 WW.Mac？......那里有很多童年回忆！ [WW.MAC 位于俄亥俄州代顿市东三街]
我快要溺毙了......那是 1961 年，我 11 岁，正在度暑假，奥维尔莱特游泳池正在上游泳课。妈妈和爸爸刚在湖边买了一间小屋，他们认为让我和弟弟罗恩学游泳是个好主意。奥维尔莱特游泳池是全新的，只有大约四英尺深。我记得，天气不太配合，清晨非常寒冷。罗恩游泳很有天赋，而我则比较难。如果我们成功完成课程，我们将获得“鲸鱼沃利”的游泳裤徽章！我真的很想要一个！在奥维尔莱特完成课程后，我们将在代顿电力和照明游泳池参加期末考试，游泳池大约 14 英尺深。毕业那天到了，当我们开车去游泳池时，布莱恩·海兰德正在广播中唱他的新热门歌曲“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini”。我们到达时，那里已经挤满了人，老天，与奥维尔·莱特的游泳池相比，那个游泳池对我来说太可怕了。罗恩第一个通过了，并以优异的成绩通过了，并被授予了沃利鲸鱼徽章。不久之后就轮到我了。看着游泳池的深水区，我开始犹豫。是的，我有时可以游，但游得不是很好。如果今天是我游不下去的一天怎么办？我真的应该通过了，因为我没有信心，而且一直都游得不好。我是应该退缩，让自己出丑，还是应该一搏？我决定不让妈妈失望，不让罗恩难堪，所以我就去试试了！！！！错误的举动，错误的选择！我像石头一样沉了下去，吞下了很多水。我仍然记得那次漫长的旅程，我游到了游泳池底部，透过水面仰望，水面似乎离我很远。天哪，我真的很想游到上面，但我因为挣扎和被水呛到而筋疲力尽。我以为我肯定要完了。突然，我看到头顶上有一道巨大的裂痕，然后我感觉有人把我拉到了水面上。她是一位有着金色长发的天使！如果不是她，我早就死了！有趣的是，我一直听到那首愚蠢的 Brian Highland 歌曲！好吧，不用说，我没有获得 Wally the whale 徽章，而且我无疑让我的妈妈和弟弟感到尴尬。几周后，我在湖边的海滩上学会了自己游泳。讽刺的是，我的哥哥 Ron 于 1991 年在湖边掉进冰里溺水身亡。我经常想这其中的讽刺之处。我一直非常尊重水，最后却变成了一只水鼠！直到今天，我还在想，我对金发女郎的迷恋是不是因为救了我一命的救生员？？？？？正如你所见，我的生活从来没有过上幸福的生活，我必须努力工作才能获得最终的成就。在很多方面，我感觉自己就像海狸，总是在与沃利竞争！.....对一些人来说事情很容易，但对另一些人来说却很艰难！
Christmas In July!.......As a kid I loved Christmas! Not only for the presents but I loved Christmas trees, all the pretty lights, Christmas vacation, and well it was just a happy time of year where people seemed to be different and genuinely happy!!!! It was magic for me! We always visited all our relation and that meant good times with all my cousins. Then there was homemade Christmas cookies and candy! What a neat way to celebrate Jesus's birthday! Years ago, as a very small kid, I was spending a weekend at grandma and grandpa's and as usual I had a blast! They had a dog named Blackie and that dog loved to catch apples! You could throw an apple way in the air and he would jump up and catch it. Grandma and Grandpa had a couple of apple trees and as I found out the hard way you had to watch out for the bees! Grandpa knew how much I loved Christmas and one day he went out and cut a huge branch off of a pine tree in his front yard and went to his bruder house shop and made a wood Christmas tree stand for it. He gave it to me and said now you have your very own Christmas tree! Boy I thought that was the neatest thing! Then we went inside the house and he rooted around and gave me a strand of the old 40s Christmas tree lights! Well I went home later that day and I couldn't wait to set up and decorate my Christmas tree! It was simply beautiful! I set it up in our living room. To this very day I have that old strand of Christmas tree lights and they still work and I think of grandpa! It's somewhat of a miracle that those lights still light up as they were the kind that got very hot and when one went out they all went out. Christmas is very different for me now a days. I don't get excited, I don't decorate, and instead of being happy it is perhaps the saddest time of the year for me like it is for so many others. You see I lost my brother right out of Christmas and that devastated me. My kids are all grown up and I no longer see the excitement in their eyes, and being divorced and not having someone in my life really hurts. That plus most of the people I loved have all passed away. I don't write this for sympathy but I just want to remind people that Christmas can not only be the happiest time of year but it can also be the saddest for a LOT of people.
另一个童年的圣诞记忆......一本救生书！！！！！
The Long Walk......As a kid I loved to go to my grandparents house out in Beavercreek on Lantz road. Grandma always fixed outstanding meals and always fixed neat snacks for us in the afternoon. She would always have homemade cookies, coffeecake, or regular cakes! One of favorites was the homemade sodas she made for us with ice cream and Barqs red cream soda!!! I still make them for myself this very day and use to make them for my two boys. Grandma always made me homemade butterfly nets and back then butterflies were really prevalent especially in the open field in the back yard! Grandpa always had a project in the works and he always included me. His shop was located in a old bruder house and boy he had all kinds of neat stuff in there and would let me root through his junk boxes and keep the treasures I found!!! Wow, it was heaven on earth. Well back to the story. One day I wanted to have an adventure of my own and I asked mom and dad if I could walk out to Grandma and Grandpa's house which was 7 miles away. To my surprise they they agreed! I couldn't believe it! There were some ground rules though. Do not take a detour, don't accept rides from a stranger, and call us when you get there, I agreed. Now a days a parent wouldn't allow their kid to-do such a thing as it is far to dangerous. Well off I went. Walking was a lot different then riding in a car and I was amazed seeing things that I overlooked in the car! The urge to explore these sights was strong but I kept my promise to my parents and stayed on the designated route. I don't recall how long it took me to get there but 7 miles was a long ways to walk. Well I arrived safe and sound and had one heck of an adventure! True to my word I called home and told them I arrived. Mom and dad would pick me up latter that evening. Wow, I had the remainder of the day with Grandma and grandpa by my self! Life is good! And guess what? Grandma made me a soda!
Rain On A Metal Roof....... Going on vacation to Coldwater Michigan was one of the highlights of my life as a kid and I have many Childhood Memories of that place. Going to bed was something I never looked forward to but it was neat at the old cottage we stayed in because it had a metal roof! Mom would tuck us in and make sure we'd say our prayers. The men folk should sit on the screened in front porch swapping fishing stories and the ladies would prepare a evening snack and lots of coffee. We usually went on vacation in June and July and there would be tremendous thunderstorms with heavy-thunder lightning and rain. I wasn't afraid because I had my brother Ron with me. As a matter of fact I thought it was neat because you could hear the rain pounding on the metal roof. The next thing I knew it was morning and another exciting day awaited me. It may not seem like much to you but for this kid it was heaven on earth and yet another Childhood Memory.
那是威尔伯·赖特高中 204 号自习室，那一年……我当时正在用晶体管收音机收听印第 500 赛车比赛，非常享受比赛，突然一个影子出现，一个粗鲁的声音粗鲁地打断了我的注意力。我抬头看到我们的副校长托马斯·赫尔曼正冲着我咆哮……“哦，该死！”我反应过来！“我现在有麻烦了！”印第 500 赛车比赛周末因下雨取消，我下定决心要听！赫尔曼先生毫不犹豫地把我的收音机拿走了！“该死！！！”我以为我会被留校，但幸运的是，他只没收了我的收音机直到学年结束！……如果我没记错的话，他想知道谁赢了！……是的，我在学年结束时拿回了它，现在还留着它！
谢谢戴维·克罗克特！！！……妈妈和爸爸对在学校打架有严格的规定，简而言之，“不要打架，否则回家后你会挨打！”我讨厌这条规定，而且有充分的理由。一旦孩子们知道你不会保护自己，你就会立即成为目标……小瑞奇就是这样！有一次，我在学校靠在砖墙上，一个“流氓”（我们这样称呼他们）过来试图挑起争斗。我没有让他满意，他转过身来打了我胸口……我记不清打了多少次。当我们回到教室时，我真的很痛苦，呼吸困难。今天的最后一节课是体育课，今天很特别，因为今天是蹦床日，然后是春假！我感觉很糟糕，但我不会向打我的人告密。我比平时慢地爬上蹦床，开始举起手臂进行第一次弹跳，然后我因极度疼痛而倒下。我想他们一定以为我心脏病发作或阑尾炎。长话短说，我被诊断出多处肋骨断裂。正如我之前所说，那天是春假，我的祖父母提出在我康复期间带我去湖边玩。不过，那件事并没有阻止那些惹是生非的人挑起争端，树立自己的名声。你知道一个人知道你放学后会被打，会经历什么样的地狱吗？这种事发生在我身上很多次，他们从来没有被抓住或被举报。一个星期天晚上，我在看沃尔特迪斯尼，他们播放了一集戴维克罗克特，我专心地看着他打架。我下定决心，管他呢，我再也不会当出气筒了。第二天，我肯定被叫了出来，这次我接受了邀请！我真的把那个可怜的家伙打得屁滚尿流，交通警察不得不把我拉开。尽管交通警察把我告发了，我在学校和家里都惹了麻烦，但我感觉很好！！！这是值得的！我特意告诉我的儿子们，以后不要打架，如果可能的话，就劝他不要打架，但如果这行不通，那就去打架，否则就永远不会结束。果然，有一天我被叫到学校，不得不面对他们允许我儿子自卫的原则。他试图给我讲学校的政策，相信我，我坚持自己的立场，让他自己去做。猜猜怎么着？我的儿子们再也不要打架了！学校的这些自由主义政策，双方都会受到惩罚，这是错误的！每个人都有权利自卫！谢谢戴维·克罗克特！ 注意：网站编辑记得这件事，因为我和里克的其他同学一起担任观察员，防止跳蹦床的人从蹦床上掉下来。他确实摔倒了！