Daniel Schoen:  

Well , thinking about back in high school ,that's what this site is about I guess . so here goes ( through MY eyes, that is ), 1969-1970 was my first year at Del Valle High as a freshman! So, to start my story, The ONLY two friends I had made in the first week of school were Malcolm Short and Johnny Silvia ! Great friends! And we got along very well ! They talked me into running for Freshman Student Council ! So I did , (well they helped a lot!) And sure enough, I was on the Council! That was a pretty neat time learning all that stuff about how things should be done! Going to all the Council meetings ,talking to the freshmen about there involvement, I got to meet a lot of people and Mr. Pierce (that I will come to know and see almost daily , (well ,the days I went to school that is ! ) That was ,I think the only year I missed only 3 or 4 days the whole year . I was into the school stuff big time. I did basket ball for a bit, that's how I got the nick name of Grasshopper, I could out jump all other players at the toss up at the start of the games . I was good, made a few baskets. played in a couple of away games , but it wasn't for me . I was also in the FFA . That year (1970) I started with raising Rabbits, had some bad luck, changed over into raising a hog! BIG CHANGE! That was great, though it didn't take off till Sophomore year ! I only about broke even when it came time to sell that hog at the Fair & FFA SHOW & AUCTION! 1971 came and I got my car! And that' when my school attendance went way sour ! And that is when Mr. Pierce got to know me very well ! What he didn't know was, I had my Mothers handwriting down great, and for a kid as "sick" as I was on the notes that I turned in to him , I think I should have died at least 3 times ! It's a laugh now ! He would take the note , read it , smile , then write me a pass , and out I went , as I rarely went to school more then 3 days a week ! I am lucky in the way I could read up a bit on the test subject an hour or so before , then take the test and pass! Not good I know now, but back then , I just had things to do, people to see, places to be! And me and some friends ( I had more now then just the two from my first week of school , Being on the Council helped to be known all over the school, WE sure tried to do all we could away from school ! One of our best things to do in March and April was to skip out early from school and head to , what we called "the ropes" ! It was on Onion creek just south of BAFB. (Bergstrom Air Force Base) (The ABIA is what it is called now, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport) Someone had tied a rope from a tall tree that leaned out over the water , you could grab on , swing out and flip or what ever and land in cool water, about seven feed deep , then swim back , or , about 15 feet down stream was a rock boulder you could stand on that was maybe 5 feet deep. it easily held five people ! We didn't stay too long the days we went , cause my friends had to get home "after school" ! That was back when there was DEEP water "in" Onion creek " ALL "the time ! Another time, 1971 , Duffy (Malcolm, his first name) and I went fishing at 4 am on a Tuesday , we were listening to some music and was wide awake all night, and well our families needed food, and we could get the fish and be back in time to get to school ! So we jumped in Duffy's brothers Land rover and took off to our best fishing hole ! About 1/2 hour down the road, the right front wheel came off ! We both saw it at the same time ! I jumped in the back to the left side , so all the weight would be on that (left) side to keep the car level ! Duffy coasted to a stop ! No damage done ! A "mile" walk down the road , we found the wheel , rolled it back , took a nut off the other 3 wheels , and back on the road again ( we found out later , his brother was doing some body work inside the well and had only put the wheel on temporarily to finish the work the next day) So, back on the road again , we made it to our fishing hole, and no I'm telling you where it is! Three hours later we had fish for both families , {8 are in my family & 7 in his } and headed back ! Then we realized , it was just too late to go to school ,---1/2 hour drive time - wheel came off --1 hour to find -- still a 1/2 hour drive to fishing hole --3 hours to fish --1 hour back home -- it was after 10 am ! (darn) And then we still had to clean all the fish ! So school will just have to wait till tomorrow ( that is if something important to me doe...Expand for more