Theyearwas1953， andIwas6yearsold， afirstgrader， ， ， sincemostofmyeducationcameathome， attheirhands， anyway.
’dbeendoingit， shesaid， ， I'dguess， thatmeant35or40yearsonthejob.Shehadtohavebeeninher60s： whitehairinperfectarray.
Shehandledourdiverseintellectswithperfectaplomb， guidingthoseofuswhocouldreadwellthroughthepleasuresofStevenson’ ， Mrs.Knappwasfluentinthe6languageswespoke， alwayshavingappropriateconversationtoofferonwhateversubject—academicandnot—， forexample， moreaboutbaseballanditshistorythanmyfatherdidandwasalwaysreadytoarguethemeritsofPeeWeeReeseherfavoriteshortstopagainstChicoCarrasquelmine.
’thappenatschool， -fieldsontheafternoonofthelastdayofthat， ， she’dtakenusonafieldtrip， literally， throughthebrightyellowandgreenofcornandwheatstalksthatweretallerthanIwas (andthanshewas， too) butstill2or3monthsshyoftheirharvest.
Wewandered， aslargegroupsofchildrenarewon’ttodo， oureyescatchingwithfascinationoneverybugandbirdandleaf， everyoneofwhich， unfailingly， ： TheIlinoisprairielandwasflat， ， listeningtotherustleofthewindthroughthegentlywavingcrops， thecriesofthecrows， thechirrsofthecricketsandbeetles.
， though， thetriphadbecomerepetitious—morefields， morecrops， morebirdcalls—andI， certainlyamongothers， ， ithappened： There， intheabsolutemiddleofnowherestraightoutofwhat， someyearslater， IwouldthinkofasTheTwilightZoneoraStephenKingnovel，_onthesideofanothersingle-laneroadhundredsofyardsfromanythingthatresembledcivilization， ， justawoodencounter6or8feetwide， 5feethigh， 2feetdeep， withpolessupportingawoodsheetthatservedassuncoverforthegrizzled， butsmiling， “IceCream—10Flavors” werepaintedprominentlyonthefront.
