I found yet another reason to hate school – you have
to stay there until June! And because
White Cedars had that blackout in October & all, we have to make up for the
“snow days” that we used up during the days without electricity). So while the towns around us get out in a
less than two weeks, we have to go to school until almost the end of the
month. Yuck.
I suppose it wouldn’t bother me, but Lizzie &
Ronnie –oh, excuse me, it’s just
plain Liz now—anyway, my cousins have
been hanging around, using our house as a “crash pad” to sleep and hang out at
after they spend an evening in NYC at a club of a play….
And I’m jealous, because I used to be allowed to tag
along, as long as my schoolwork was done to Aunt Lina’s liking. But now I’m in Public School and I have to go, no matter how stupid it
is. Plus there’s play rehearsal – it’s
gotten to the point where I forgot why the heck I even started with that in the
first place!
I’d really rather be with Ronnie & Liz, shopping
in the Village or Williamsburg. They’re
even planning to go to Coney Island on the next sunny Tuesday. I’m so unhappy that the bitchy side of me is
glad that it’s been rainy. I should be
happy for them, but I’m so miserable in my White Cedars prison.
They told me about this new band they saw, at a
“private invite birthday party” (Lizzie won tickets) at the Hard Rock for
Little Steven (Van Zandt of Springsteen fame – I like his radio show), and
about the pseudo-Biblical epic that some famous “drag legend” did at a small
East Village theater. They are having so
much fun, while I’m stuck sitting at a desk re-learning stuff with a bunch of
dullards. Well, with a few exceptions,
like Ruby, Dor, Amelia & Carl. If it
weren’t for our “crew” I’d be so lost!
Aunt Lina knows how hard it’s been for me – we’ve
talked about it, & she reminds me how I’ll have many years ahead of me for having the same kind of fun that my
cousins are having now. As old as she
is, she must remember the weirdness of being a teenager, because she’s been so
nice, especially when the cousins call to ask if they can sleep over. One night a couple of weeks ago she even made
her famous lobster Newburg when the supermarket had a sale on lobsters. And she’s let me have first crack at the peas
growing in the yard –I can’t believe how early they’ve begun to produce! Sugar snap peas are so sweet and delicious –
I want to put them in a salad, but
somehow they just make it into my mouth.
You can eat them pod and all.
Later, when the crop gets bigger, I’ll shell them for dinner & fry
up the pods in butter for lunch – yum.
And there are some
fun things going on at school. Like the
band and choir’s yearly trip. It’s
actually a competition between schools from all over the state, and White
Cedars has such a good reputation for music that DSW competes against some High
Schoolers! They are mostly freshmen, but
still! Some of us Middle Schoolers are
not quite teens!
My
first choir competition was very interesting.
We got up at 5a.m. to
go to school, got on busses with teachers and parent chaperones, and set off
for southern NJ. Our band and choir
performed in a school auditorium, in front of judges, and we were whisked out
before the next busload of school kids came.
We never got to hear any of our competitors! Instead, when all of the groups had performed
(we have a jazz band, a learners band and the “green pride” band of more
proficient musicians, as well as our chorus) The bus took us to the amusement
park.
“Welcome
to The NJ Adventure Park Experience” the huge sign over the gates
proclaimed. But reading that sign was
all we could do for several hours (besides complain – there was a LOT of that
going on!), because the grey storm clouds that had hung low in the sky all
morning decided to let loose. Downpour!
By
the time the storm had passed, we were sick of being on the bus (especially
those in the back seats, near the bathroom).
Only a few of the rides and attractions were open, so people mostly
huddled in souvenir shops, restaurants and food stands. We didn’t get to ride on a roller coaster,
and we didn’t have to ride on the splashdown to get wet. Good times.
Finally
somebody with half a brain decided to give out the awards an hour earlier than
scheduled. We won second place for our
band, and third for our choir, with a first place for our soloist from the 8th
grade. He had a great voice. Then we were back on the bus for our ride
home. I fell asleep on the return
trip. I wonder if I’ll go next year –
this was nothing like Dor and Carl had said, but I guess it was mostly the
weather that made it stink. That and the
over-used bus bathroom.
Until
my next post…..
Randi
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