Even the year it was -40 degrees everyone in town went to school on the bus. There was a layer of ice on the inside of every window. It never occurred to our mothers to drove us to school in a heated car.That is the year I bough a winter coat with an inside lining of knitted fabric. It was built for the Arctic. I still have that coat. It weighs ten pounds and is an attractive Army green.
Carl Spafford--a grandfather--was our bus driver. When we got too noisy he pulled over to the side of the road and waited.
Once I was sitting with my feet on the top of the wheel-well when Carl ran over a boulder. It hit my wheel-well and punched the sheet metal up about two inches. My feet stung for a long time but I didn't even bother telling Mom about it. After all, if she didn't drive us to school in -40 degree weather why would she worry about my arches being driven through the top of my feet?
These buses look very lonely. What is their destiny? If they are lucky they will be purchased by an interesting man like my Dad and be used to drive the grandkids around. Who knows?
7 comments:
Those were the good old days, Lynne. I rode a school bus like these, too. Our bus driver was our neighbor who we knew very well. He was soft spoken, but when things got rowdy he also pulled over. He didn't have to say much to rein the "tough guys" in, because in those days, kids respected adults.
Those are very classic buses. Why don't you buy one of them to cart all of us to church when we're too old to drive? If we get too rowdy, you can pull over!
The worst part was standing by the side of the road waiting for the bus. If it was late, it could be agony.
Or maybe some cool family could form a band and paint the buses really cool colours and start traveling around, singin' their song.....
Two questions: #1 Where did you grow up? The coldest place I have ever lived was Montana and it got to -30 below. #2 Where and when did you take that photo of those charming buses?
You make me recall, not exactly fondly, my own bus riding days. Oh, what an adventure. One which I am surely glad is over! Maybe you should get one to escort your grandkids. Azzy could ride too, as long as we could secure her car seat. I could be your assistant and lead everyone in song as you ferried us about. Yes, I like it!
Now that does bring back memories of riding to school in the snow in a bus that looked just like that!! They do look very sad and lonely. But I would NOT want to drive one!!
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