After school was out, it was time to get a haircut and start swimming in Kiwanis Lake. Dad would take us all to the barber shop in downtown Upton. There, we were given an option: Butch, Crew Cut, or Flat Top. The Butch was too boring, just an even short cut all around. The Flat Top was too much work, and I never understood how they were able to get it to stand so straight and so tall. I personally liked the crew cut because it left a little on top that you could play with — comb it up, to the side, or down to your forehead. It was a option that gave you a little control over your “look,” whatever that might be. Back in those days, Brylcreem and Vitalis hair product were quite the hip thing to use (Edd “Kookie” Byrnes and Elvis) and we always had an inventory of it in our house. Kent had the really curly hair, but Brad had straighter hair like me, so I looked to him for guidance. He parted it on the opposite side of me and usually did a little Vitalis curl in the front. I was never as adept as he was as making it stand right, but I did my best. The barber shop was the first time I ever went to a place that was strictly male-oriented. While we were waiting, they had periodicals we could peruse. For kids it was comics, but men had special magazines that we boys weren’t allowed to see. I know now it was probably Playboy, but at the time we figured it was a car magazine or business journal. It’s funny, but now that I think about waiting room magazines, I never saw a Highlights Magazine at the barber shop, nor did I ever see a comic book at the dentist office.
Expansive fresh-water Kiwanis Lake was where we all learned how to swim. We started with learning how to float. Once we mastered that, we moved on to the the doggy paddle. After that we tried the back stroke, breast stroke, and finally the Australian crawl. Since this sport did not require spacial ability, I did pretty good, at least I held my own. From that experience I have always felt at home in the water, relaxed, and, unlike other places in my life then, in control.

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