Cross Stitching

We had another version of Christmas in October today – the food bank was back in town. The people watching while waiting in line is always interesting and entertaining. And I hit the yogurt jackpot – two cases of honey-flavored Greek yogurt (my favorite), plus a couple large containers of vanilla Greek yogurt. I've already had one of the honey flavored ones.

I'm trying a delicate balance right now of reading and working on Christmas ornaments. Basically, I do one until my eyes are crossed, then I take a break and try the other. I'm in the middle of a murder mystery thriller that's due back to the Library next week. And I just finished my second Christmas ornament.....ten to go. The one I just finished had a lot of pale yellow thread – the lighter colors are always harder on the eyes.

When I was in second grade, we got a new music teacher – Mr. Nashan. His mother-in-law was my teacher for both second and third grades. It seems like he came in mid-year. I can't remember for sure on that. But I remember our Last Day of School Program – the second graders sang “This Old Man”, with actions. I'm sure we did more than the one song....but that's the one that stays in my memory!

Music classes through the years with Mr. Nashan were memorable. We sang, we learned to play tonettes, he even took us through the pain and agony of beginning band. Mr. Nashan also taught high school history – he was memorable for assigning history essays to the high school band students who got in trouble in band class.

For reasons I never completely understood, Mr. Nashan chose to teach us square dancing. I think that began in third grade. We would fold up the chairs in the music room and move them against the wall, making plenty of room in the classroom. Then he would start playing the square dance records. The albums he had were tutorial – they would walk us through the various steps, and then walk us through the dance so we were familiar with it. Only then would we do it in “real time” with the music. There were several different dances on the record that we enjoyed doing.

When we got ready for the Last Day of School Program when I was somewhere mid-elementary school, we were showcasing our square dancing. Square dancing, naturally, required square dancing clothing.......a dress with poufy sleeves, a very very full skirt......done in gingham checked fabric and adorned with a cross-stitched pattern around the skirt. My dress got done in a dark blue gingham, then Mom started the cross stitching. I think she began to feel like there was no end to that skirt! She's often commented that she felt like she was going to lose her eyesight before she got that cross stitching done.

Mr. Nashan was with us through our seventh grade year. That was our third year in band, and I don't remember anything terribly memorable from that year other than saying goodbye to him.

The last time I saw Mr. Nashan was, I believe, 1999 at our all-school reunion. By then the Bogard High School Alumni Scholarship had been established, and his wife was on the scholarship committee. In an effort to promote the scholarship fund, the previous recipients were invited to that reunion and were introduced during the evening. Older daughter was the second recipient, so she was at the reunion with me. She and I happened to walk into the reunion right in front of Mr. Nashan and his wife. He hadn't changed much.

We had more than our share of good teachers at Bogard – Mr. Nashan was definitely one of them, in spite of the cross-stitched square dance dresses!