In our village school back in the 50's, the school rented a bus to take the kids to Detroit, Michigan, so we could go to the zoo.
The two teachers went, of course, and several parents volunteered as well, mothers who could spare the time and who had no small children at home.
Such a big trip didn't occur very often because of the cost. I guess I was about nine when I went.
I was used to long drives with my parents, but not a long drive in a school bus, an uncomfortable and foreign ride at that.
It wasn't much fun for me. I wasn't relaxed and my stomach had nerves and I knew that the driver would take us across the Detroit River by way of the under-river tunnel.
One of my aunts was terrified of that tunnel. She swore she saw water leaking through the walls on one trip, but my dad said that would be too unsafe and the city would never allow that.
I didn't like the tunnel because of my aunt. And I wasn't too crazy about tall and long bridges either, so getting across the river made me nervous when I was a kid.
We all loved the zoo. What kid wouldn't? The Detroit Zoo was the first place most of us ever saw wild animals from around the world.
I remember the excitement of seeing the exotic peacocks, more than the elephants and zebras. Today, I have peacocks coming to my front and back doors, asking for seed and displaying their trains. They are friendly, though wild, but it took time for them to relax around me.
Detroit back then was an older and bigger city than any we had where I grew up, so it held mystery and grime and exhaust fumes.
But the people were like us, so it was fun. The food was like ours too.
Border crossing was easy in those days.
When people talk about the good old days, they're probably remembering how easy things were then, compared to their present lives, especially in my parents' generation, but also in mine.
I probably enjoyed the Detroit Zoo that first time more than any of the other times I went with my parents after that.
Probably because I was going to the United States.
The two teachers went, of course, and several parents volunteered as well, mothers who could spare the time and who had no small children at home.
Such a big trip didn't occur very often because of the cost. I guess I was about nine when I went.
I was used to long drives with my parents, but not a long drive in a school bus, an uncomfortable and foreign ride at that.
It wasn't much fun for me. I wasn't relaxed and my stomach had nerves and I knew that the driver would take us across the Detroit River by way of the under-river tunnel.
One of my aunts was terrified of that tunnel. She swore she saw water leaking through the walls on one trip, but my dad said that would be too unsafe and the city would never allow that.
I didn't like the tunnel because of my aunt. And I wasn't too crazy about tall and long bridges either, so getting across the river made me nervous when I was a kid.
We all loved the zoo. What kid wouldn't? The Detroit Zoo was the first place most of us ever saw wild animals from around the world.
I remember the excitement of seeing the exotic peacocks, more than the elephants and zebras. Today, I have peacocks coming to my front and back doors, asking for seed and displaying their trains. They are friendly, though wild, but it took time for them to relax around me.
Detroit back then was an older and bigger city than any we had where I grew up, so it held mystery and grime and exhaust fumes.
But the people were like us, so it was fun. The food was like ours too.
Border crossing was easy in those days.
When people talk about the good old days, they're probably remembering how easy things were then, compared to their present lives, especially in my parents' generation, but also in mine.
I probably enjoyed the Detroit Zoo that first time more than any of the other times I went with my parents after that.
Probably because I was going to the United States.
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