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Wylie ( CHS '53) came by again today! He's Noel's
(CHS '51) little brother. We have hit it off since I met
him about two years ago. Several of his incredibly
talented mother's stories appear on MIL'S PLACE.
He drops by every two or three weeks, and we have
a nice talk. It has been a good week! Art (and Carmen)
came by Wednesday and I don't know when I've had
so many laughs!
Wylie is smart. He knows stuff. We come from that
great bunch of Clovis kids. We both drove tractors and
wheat trucks. And any Clovis kid from that time loves
the good old USA!
After a good talk, and he left, I was sitting here and
musing about that great class of CHS '53. They are
special to me, just like my own class! They were a
good bunch! I was up against five or so of them when
I was trying to win the heart of JM. I don't know who
won---I went off to college.
Now and then I pull out the CHS '51 Yearbook. I was
a senior and the '53 kids were sophomores. They
looked like little kids! Why there was Wylie! He
couldn't have been fourteen. And little Gary W.--
they say he flew C130's. Wow! There were Bobby
Joe, Richard, Marcia, Betty, Doris, Lyle, and A.J. I
can't name 'em all.
I saw a photo of A.J. taken at their 2013 reunion.
What an impressive gentleman!
When Wylie arrived, I had just received an email
from a South Texas friend, who lives on a farm
(with a neat pond) near Wild Peach, Texas.
Loving words as I do, I was quite taken by "Wild
Peach." I had names "on my mind" this morning!
So after my guest settled down with his coffee,
we began to discuss---names. You see, my wife and
I had always, when we made our big step up, as
they say, wanted to live on a street with a beautiful,
flowing-off-the-tongue, poetically impressive and
meaningful street name.
House-shopping in the eighties found us looking
at houses in Albuquerque with wonderful street
names, like---Bluecorn Maiden Trail, Cielito Lindo,
Arroyo Seco, Lagrima de Oro, Avenida de la Luna,
Arroyo del Oso, Avenida del Oso, and on and on.
These beautiful street names were at the foot of
the Sandia and Manzano Mountains just uphill
east of the Rio Grande!
After all, one's street name is important because
you use it over and over.
Wylie and I were discussing this and he said: "Well,
I've got one for you that you'll love! Have you heard
of the street down in Corrales named 'YIPPEE
CALLE?'" (Now this one broke me up!) I said: "As
in the song 'yippee-yi-yo-kah-yeh?'" Then we both
laughed! (There IS such a street.)
Well, the upshot of this--that you have been waiting
for---the street where we finally settled is named---
"GUTIERREZ."
Then, of course, we had to talk about the streets in
our beloved home town; streets named after the
state's governors...even Lou Wallace, who wrote
"Ben Hur."
I gave it a shot beginning from the west: Hull,
Edwards, Davis, Reid, Thornton, Calhoun,
Connelly, Hinkle, Merriwether, Mitchell, Main, Pile,
Gidding, Axtell, Wallace, Sheldon, Ross, Prince. The
far west and far east ones, I never mastered.
Wylie didn't try it, perhaps too considerate to
show me up.
He was an aircraft mechanic in the NM Air
National Guard. When a mechanic fixed an
F100, the pilot insisted that he go along in
the back seat on the test flight. This somehow
assured him that the job was well-done.
Thus Wylie was often subjected to G stresses
as the pilot showed off his skills. He once
was taken rabbit hunting by an F100 pilot...
we're talking low-flying here.
He has promised me a story on this---"Rabbit
Hunting In An F100."
If you want a fun, happy, uplifting talk, invite
Wylie over for coffee sometime. He takes it
with cream.
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BY MIL
5/16/14
Sent from my iPad
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