school memories

Do you ever look at something and wonder why you've held on to it for so long?

"What? Was that rhetorical or aimed at me?"

Oh, that was simply cast out into the ether.

"Okay, just wanted to be sure. Hey, are those old school ID cards?"

Yes, they are. They've been in the safe deposit box all these years.

"I knew they were more than a decade old. Your hair has been all down your back for at least that long."

Heck, more than that! I'd started growing my hair long again when Harry and I broke up, and that was summer of 2011. These three photos are all from the 20th century.

"Hahahaha! That makes them sound ancient!"

Well, the first two are student ID cards from Florida State University. In fact, the lower of the two ran from summer of 1986, with my first Summer Undergraduate Research Program stint with Dr. Leo Mandelkern, all the way through spring of 1993. That big gold one in the middle picks up from June of 1993 onward to 1996, when I graduated from FSU with my PhD. I don't recall why I had to get a new ID then. Maybe because my status had changed from student to research assistant while I wrote my dissertation? I really have no idea.

"Neither do I, that's for sure."

The third ID card dates from the name and status change of the Armstrong campus. We went from quarters at Armstrong State College to the semester system at Armstrong Atlantic State University. What a mouthful! That word "Atlantic" was added as a geographic locator, since "Armstrong" in and of itself wasn't satisfactory to the Georgia Board of Regents. That's okay, everyone still called it simply "Armstrong", which is actually appropriate, right?

"Absolutely! No one ever called Florida State anything except "F-S-U". It would have actually seemed silly to call it anything else. At least "Armstrong" is an actual name."

That's right.

"And is that the mortar and pestle that your student made for you in her ceramics class?"

Yes, it is! The years have not been kind to LaNesa's creation. The clay may not have been totally cured, as it is quite cracked. She had tried to make it in my favorite colors - hot pink and purple! - but the kiln had changed the colors. Still, I applauded the effort. She was such a sweet person!

"And what are you going to do with that art project?"

I'm "releasing it into the wild", as I like to say. (smile!)

"Heard. One less item for someone else to look at and wonder what to do with it."

Exactly.

"And does that photo mean you're at the laundry?"

I was, but I'm home now, and fixing to have slunch and watch a few more episodes of "The Closer" on Peacock. Oddly, I find myself remembering a few, but not most of them.

"Well, I'll leave you to that. Looks like you've had a productive day!"

I have. I even watched sheets! And because it was Wednesday and the washer I used was discounted from $6 to $4.50, I only spent $7.50 for the one large load. Productive, and frugal... and now I'll have clean clothes for the next 4 to 5 weeks. (smile!) Time to eat!