1971 - Going to run for fun.
I hated taking the school bus to school. Maybe most kids didn’t (and still don’t) like riding the bus. They would rather drive to school as soon as they were old enough. I didn’t even want to be on the highway no matter what the motorized vehicle was back then in the 60′s and 70′s.
Back in the early 70′s, my hometown area had not been ruined yet by the people moving out of the big city into the country. There was a perfect trail through the woods for me to ride my horse on to high school. It was about a four mile trip one way between where I lived and where the Rondout Valley Central School was. At that time, there were fields and woods surrounding the school property (no houses; plus, the middle school had not been built yet!).
I knew better than to ask permission from anyone for how I got to school. That was none of anyone’s business. No one cared how disturbed the bus rides made me, so I figured that no one should be disturbed if I chose to not ride the bus so long as I got to school. The school district got their money for my attendance, so what did they have to complain about? I left my horse tied far enough away from the school for him to not be a disturbance during the day. No one even knew I was doing it (except my parents and they’re both deceased now so it’s safe to tell this story without anyone getting into trouble).
Now when I look back to those days, I laugh over how one part of my journey did not expose my peculiar mode of transportation to any school authority. The easiest way there was for me to access where I would tether Jack of Diamonds involved my walking past a busy hallway in the back of the school building that was all glass on the one side of the wall. Along the outdoor side of that hallway was a narrow path with woods behind it. I’d dismount and run along Jack’s side while going past this large window — trying to remain hidden on the opposite side of him so hopefully no one would recognize me. Sometimes when I’d be hurrying by, I couldn’t resist the temptation to take a peek at how many kids were walking in the hallway and to see if they were looking. Maybe my timing was off, but whenever I’d look, it appeared as if everyone was just going about their regular daily business . . . not paying any attention to what the blonde was doing outside with her horse. The only explanation I can think of as to why nobody investigated what I was doing was that no one would think it was a student with her horse, because after all, where would she hide such a big animal during school? Surely she wouldn’t leave it alone somewhere while attending class?
The moral to this story is: There are positive aspects to being ignored and not being popular, especially when you can take such things and work them to your advantage.
