Show Me the Place, 3

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

3: The Swimming Pool at Phillips University; Enid, Oklahoma

The swimming pool at Phillips U!

A place a loved at 102!

Yes, 102 degrees! So hot

My bicycle would melt, I thought.

But summer days there at the pool—

And not a thing could be more cool.

I learned to swim and learned to dive—

And how, in heat, to stay alive!

My father worked at Phillips U—

And that is how we got to do

The swimming thing on brutal days

Beneath that brutal Sooner blaze.

*Google Earth shows the pool is still there—can’t tell if it’s still in use, though. The last time I saw it (a decade ago?), I walked up to the walls outside—peeked in through a crack—didn’t look as if it were in use.

Show Me the Place, 2

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

2: At Adams School

I spent most of my early years

At Enid’s Adams School.

I learned to read and write and add—

And sometimes was a fool.

My brothers went there; Mom had, too.

My grandson saw the site,

And Logan* spread some breadcrumbs there—

Some bread I’d baked. How right!

I had a gifted teacher there—

Yes, Mrs. Rockwell taught

As if she were a pitcher—oh,

The learning that we caught!

I always will remember her—

And Adams, you can bet.

Such transformations in your life

You just cannot forget.

*our older grandson—just turned 14

Show Me the Place, 1

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

1: Let’s Start in Enid, Oklahoma

Let’s start in Oklahoma, where,

Oh, far too many years ago,

I took a breath of Sooner air—

My first one. I began to grow

And love our town of Enid that

Is Garfield County’s county seat.

I wasn’t really such a brat—

But not completely nice and neat.

I loved nearby Kiwanis Park—

With swings and, yes, a jungle gym.

On summer days—from dawn to dark—

I played there, scraping scalp and limb.

Oh, such is boyhood—play and play—

With no responsibility.

And so it was each boyhood day—
Until we moved—a tragedy!

Note: The park is no longer a park, I fear. Image from Google Earth shows you the still-wooded site on East Broadway Ave.

Show Me the Place

SHOW ME THE PLACE

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

In the Beginning …

And, yes, it’s time—yes, once again

It’s time: A voyage to begin.

We’ve finished off those eponyms.

Let’s hope that this one also brims

With information—and some fun.

I’ll try to do it—every one.

And so I’ll take you to those sites

Where I will show some bright highlights

That I have loved—the homes, the schools,

The holidays (where only fools

Would go in search of dreariness).

I’ll try to wake your weariness

With stories old, with stories new,

And by the time that we are through,

Perhaps you’ll know both head and tail

Of my life’s creature. So ... we sail!

Namely--Farewell

NAMELY

eponyms (EP-uh-nimz)

words based on or derived from a person's name.

First Known Use: mid-19^th century

“What’s in a Name?”

Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, 2.2­

FINALE

Another journey’s now complete—

From A to Z we went.

Some stops—some rewinds—all, of course,

A writing accident.

I learned a lot along the way—

I hope that you did, too.

So many eponyms out there—

A really chunky stew.

But now we all have had enough—

And so before you scream—

Or try, perhaps, some violence—

I’ll find another theme.

So ... “Watch This Space”—as ads once said.

Then step aboard the ship,

For it is time, I recognize,

To launch another trip.

Namely, 138

NAMELY

eponyms (EP-uh-nimz)

words based on or derived from a person's name.

First Known Use: mid-19^th century

“What’s in a Name?”

Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, 2.2­

138: zinnia: a cultivated flower with a showy, rayed, variously colored flowers (from Johann Gottfried Zink, 1727–1759, German director of the Botanical Garden at the University of Göttingen, where he described various species of orchids; earliest known use, 1767)

I gave her such a zinnia

That she just fell for me.

A pretty flower did the trick—

Domestic harmony.

But I would learn—as years went by—

That flowers sometimes failed.

She got so tired of me at times

She tried to get me jailed.

And so I figured out (at last!)

What she was most fond of:

It wasn’t flowers—not at all.

It was just love … just love.

THIS IS THE LAST OF THE SERIES!

Namely, 137

NAMELY

eponyms (EP-uh-nimz)

words based on or derived from a person's name.

First Known Use: mid-19^th century

“What’s in a Name?”

Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, 2.2­

137: Zeppelin: a dirigible balloon (from Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 1838–1917, German general and aeronautical pioneer who developed the first balloon with propellers that was dirigible (directable); first known use, 1896)

Aboard that fateful Zeppelin—

The dude slipped me a Mickey Finn.

But as we fell in deadly flame,

I thought about that “Mickey” name.

“Where did it come from?” I inquired.

But no one answered: We’d been fired.

So I went to my fiery death

With “Mickey Finn” on my last breath.*

*Possibly from a 1903 American saloon keeper who allegedly drugged his customers; first known use, 1918. See earlier doggerel about Mickey.

PENULTIMATE DOGGEREL IN THIS SERIES!