After yesterday's post got to thinking about an adventure we had with Michael Hoke. When I was in 7th grade he conducted a field trip to the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, and I was among the four students selected to go...four probably because that was all of the students that could fit into his old junker college car. At the appointed time on that Saturday morning I waited in front of my house at 1512 Chapman, and along he comes to pick me up. Wasn't so easy to get in the car, though, because as soon as I reached for the handle he sped off for a few feet, kidding around. Somehow he could get away with that kind of stuff because of his personality, and because it was just a different time then. Another time he was on the North Junior High faculty team when they played the Orange Police Department in a charity basketball game, and, not-surprisingly to us, picked 98.6 as his number. He was all about science, but was also very civic-minded.Back to the adventure. We got to the Refuge, where he drove us around pointing out this or that about the wildlife. It was fun, and at one point he had some of us sitting on the hood of the car so we could see better. As mentioned above, it was just a different time then. I was positioned behind the passenger-side wheel when Guess what happened - he (non-intentionally, I think) ran over a fresh cow patty, which sprayed all over my left pants leg! Yep, and there it stayed because Lord knows we were in the middle of nowhere and had no way of washing it off. And taking off my pants was not exactly an option for the hour-drive home. So on the way back I sat in the front seat in order to maximize the distance between me and anyone else in the car.
That incident sort of sticks out in my mind when thinking about those days with Mr. Hoke. He was truly an unforgettable character.
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