Great Insights Kenny!
I am sure we can all relate. Being in M'boro was certainly centering but
needing to spread those young adventurous wings and see what else was out
there was a big draw for a lot of us too.
My insightful moment came after reading the results of my Kuder Preference
Test. Was that our junior or senior year?
I just couldn't believe that the test clearly stated I would be best suited
to be a farmer!!!! A FARMER, INDEED!!!
Once I got over that shocker, I realized that I preferred to be outside and
the only options listed throughout the test for outside jobs were in
agriculture.
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that the three things most
important to me and that would guide my professional choices, were: 1)
being outside, 2) not having to wear pantyhose to work and 3) needing to be
near an ocean.
I was born and raised on the southeastern coast and being in central
Tennessee just wasn't a good fit for me. My father was still in the Navy
when we first moved to Middle TN and I just couldn't understand how his
enormous aircraft carrier could possibly make it up the Cumberland River.
Decades later after his nondisclosure agreement expired, he called me up
to tell me the entire story of why we were in Middle Tennessee while he
was still serving in the Navy.
The short version is he was in charge of the detonating mechanisms on the
nuclear warheads that were stored underground at Clarksville Naval Base.
When I asked about his office, he said it was in the back seat of a limo
that had all the amenities that James Bond would have had minus the
alcohol. There he would sit with the pilot of the jet that had just flown
in from somewhere on the east coast to arm the jet with nuclear warheads. My father
said his job was to go down the "what ifs" list, meaning what to do if
this or that happened.
He knew that two nuclear bombs were ejected into Wassaw Sound off the coast
of Georgia in the early 1950's long before I moved here. So when I told him
where I was moving, he told me not to live on Tybee Island nor to drink
the tap water.
Ha! The first home I bought is on Tybee. Oh well. He couldn't tell
me why not to buy the house until well after I bought it. The water, he
later told me, was contaminated with tritium leaking from the plutonium
producing reactors up the Savannah River where it ostensibly could leak
into the drinking water. I still drink bottled water to this day even
though our drinking water is from the deep Floridan Aquifer. Sara Daw Day
drinks from the same aquifer, I do believe.
The other insight about needing to be on the coast and therefore in salt
water came from a few fateful incidents at Elam Mill and Brown's Mill dams.
As I recall those were great swimming holes on hot summer days. However my
first dip in one of those famed swimming holes was a real eye opener. The
water was so very cold even on a hot summer day and I was really skinny
then (not anymore though!) and I just couldn't abide how cold it was.
The other issue I had was buoyancy. The ocean is essentially 35 parts of
salt to 1,000 parts of water and a slender body is much more buoyant in
that salty mix than in pure freshwater. (I must admit though, I was well
into my 30's before I could actually accomplish floating. I struggled with
buoyancy even as an aquanaut with a high tech buoyancy compensator device,
or a BCD, for you divers.)
Anyway, I recall one day while at Brown's Mill my friend Elizabeth moved
too close to the falls and was sucked into them getting caught up in the
"keeper." I remember seeing her head and hair coming up and going down in
an endless cycle as if she was in a cruel washing machine. I struggled to
get to her to help her. The water was so cold my muscles just wouldn't
move my legs fast enough through the water.
Fortunately Sammy Goodwin, God Bless Him, got to her just in time to save
her from drowning. Whew! Thank You, Sammy! That day I decided I just didn't
need to swim in cold fresh water anymore that had dangerous waterfalls and
non-buoyant water.
And so living here on the coast at sea level is apparently where I need to
be. I was very appreciative of my time in middle Tennessee living first in
Clarksville in 5th and 6th grades when my father retired from the Navy and
then attended Austin Peay to earn his master's, then during junior high
school in Nashville while my father finished his PhD at Vanderbilt and
then finally in Murfreesboro for high school when my father began teaching
at MTSU.
I am not sure how I would have turned out had I not had the good solid
experience of being in a small tight-knit community that was so very
supportive and protective in those very tender formative years. I think
back on those years with great fondness for the friends I made and kept,
for the incredible experiences we had through our various interests in
music, sports and clubs and for the teachers who did an amazing job of
giving us the critical skills we needed to make our way in this world.
I too am grateful for the confidence instilled in us by being in Mrs.
Anderson's Drama Club, Kenny. And it was a great delight to have you jump
spontaneously into my arms, your loving, overly-protective "Mumsy's" arms
as the firemen rushed into our burning mansion. You were such great fun!!!
And so I cannot believe you are not coming!!! You just have to be here! We
need to hear your organ recital again. We need to hear your voice in
person again. How much will it take to get you here? Perhaps we can set up
a "Get Kenny to the Reunion Fund." I'll chip in a few bucks. Anyone else?
With Fond Memories of M'Boro and All Y'All. --Cathy J. Sakas cathyjosakas@gmail.com
I remember that rescue very vividly! It actually was at Hall's Hill Mill
(past Guy James farm) and not Brown's Mill. I was with you, Elizabeth, and
my brother, Sam, that day.
Sam and I spotted Elizabeth bobbing in the water very near the dam. It
had rained the day before and the water was high and rushing over the dam
causing an undercurrent near the dam's wall. Sam and I swam toward
Elizabeth and I pulled her by the hair towards us, and then, suddenly, I
was sucked under by the undercurrent.
Sam managed to recover and pull Elizabeth to safety, and I was able to
swim out of the undercurrent. Sam was a certified life guard and was
working that summer at the Murfreesboro Country and Golf Club which was
located on Hwy. 231 S. (and now Indian Hills Golf Club).
We all learned a valuable lesson that day, and that was never to swim in
the river after a rain with "swollen" water. I believe the above incident
occurred in the summer of 1967 (or maybe 1968).
By the way, Sam and his wife, Elizabeth (how ironic!), have moved back to
Murfreesboro after his retirement and an absence of 37 years while living in
Florida and Arizona. He is working part time as a manager at the old
"Martin Theater" which is now named Premier 6 Theater. He regularly sees
former CHS classmates and other "town folks."
Yes, my wife, Judy, and I will attend our 50th CHS reunion! Judy knew your
father when she was an undergraduate at MTSU. She received a work study
scholarship and worked in the History Dept. as their part-time
secretary/receptionist while attending MTSU.
She has had a successful career in education for 47 yrs. and is currently
principal at Barfield Elementary School in Murfreesboro.
--Steve Goodwin sjgoodwin11@att.net
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