The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: GYM CLASS

<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } </style> <br />For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Hour... BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.</a><br /><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;">I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rZ9pEXdr8h..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="231" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rZ9pEXdr8h..." width="266" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.08in;">In January I wrote about: <i>apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.</i><br /><i><br /></i>In February: <i>chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.</i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">March: </span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">divorce, door, dream, emergency room, envelope, eyebrows, first apartment, first job, food, game, garden.</i><br /><div style="font-weight: normal;"><i style="color: #545454; font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">April: I took a break to focus on <a href="https://www.irenelatham.com/artspeak.... Happy!</a></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here are the prompts for May: </span><i style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">gloves, great-grandparent, guidebook, gun, gym class, hair, hands, hat, high heels, honeymoon, hood.</i></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"></div></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>GYM CLASS</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I have never been a sporty gal, so when it came to gym class, I'd pretty much do anything to get out of it. In elementary school I managed to skip playing softball by staying in and cleaning the classroom. This included straightening the book shelves and washing down the chalk board. With what glee I would look out at my classmates through the window! </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I also managed to get out of PE in high school. The coach was also in charge of the bus schedules, and when he saw I was good at organization, he asked if I might help him. And so I did! I worked on those bus schedules and didn't have to play basketball even once. </span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">But I didn't get out of gym class every time... my 9</span>^{<span style="font-style: normal;">th</span>}<span style="font-style: normal;">grade year and first year in Alabama, I had to endure the horror of dressing out in the PE “uniform,” which consisted of shorts only in team colors (red, gray, or white) and t-shirts specially designed by the school. I never liked the way I looked in this ensemble, and I remember feeling awkward and uncomfortable. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "roboto" , "arial";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The only positive memory I have of gym class is doing quite well in the Presidential fitness test. Fitness has always been important to me – growing up with an obese father will do that to you – and thanks to Grandma Dykes (and those who came before her) I've got “flexibility” in my genes. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><br />