伊万·盖尔福德·布雷克/EvanGuilfore-Blake
, -unin-corporatedareaofUrbana, , asIrecall, therewereaboutthirty-fiveofus, mostlyveryyoung, althoughwerangedinage, ofcourse, uptotwelveorthirteen.
Theyearwas1953，andIwassixyearsold, afirstgrader, , , sincemostofmyeducationcameathome, attheirhands, anyway.
’dbeendoingit, shesaid, , I’dguess, ：;memoryputsheratbarelyfivefeet, , , too.
Shehandledourdiverseintellectswithperfectaplomb, guidingthoseofuswhocouldreadwellthroughthepleasuresofStevenson’, , , forexample, moreaboutbaseballanditshistorythanmyfatherdidandwasalwaysreadytoarguethemeritsofPeeWeeReese（herfavoriteshortstop）againstChicoCarrasquel（mine）.’thappenatschool, -fieldsontheafternoonofthelastdayofthat, , she’dtakenusonafieldtrip, literally, throughthebrightyellowandgreenofcornandwheatstalksthatweretallerthanIwas（andthanshewas, too（butstilltwoorthreemonthsshyoftheirharvest.
Wewandered, aslargegroupsofchildrenarewonttodo, oureyescatchingwithfascinationoneverybugandbirdandleaf, everyoneofwhich, unfailingly, :TheIlinoisprairielandwasflat, , , thechirrsofthecricketsandbeetles.
