“Field Trip to Yesterday”

by

Gerry Niskern

School has been under way for a few weeks and now it’s time for, you guessed it, field trips! Sooner or later, you parents and grandparents will be asked to help with a class excursion. Go ahead, volunteer. You might enjoy a journey down memory lane as I did some years ago when I accompanied my granddaughter’s fourth grade class to see the place where our illustrious state legislators convene, the Arizona State Capitol.

When the bus full of excited children drew close to the lush, beautifully landscaped grounds of the capitol, the sight of the green grass brought back many fond memories.

On any sweltering summer day when the word went out over the old neighborhood that the capital grounds was being irrigated, it brought kids from every direction. The cool, bubbling water flowing out of big clay pipes quickly filled with children running and shouting through the knee high water. Droplets showered any state official who happened to be walking by.

A few minutes later I was brought back to reality as the kids filed off the bus. My granddaughter’s teacher was explaining the history and architecture of the capitol. As instructed, they looked up the sidewalk to the front doors of the gray building. “Oh, those wonderful sidewalks,” I mused. “If these kids could just try those smooth paths of roller-skating ecstasy.”

I remembered how I used to strap on my skates, give the metal clamps a hard turn with the key, squeeze a drop or two of oil on each wheel and cruise one block over to the capital sidewalks with my friends. At that time, the entire capital block was criss-crossed diagonally with slick paved walks juvenile skaters’ dream about. Slamming our feet down and pumping our legs faster and faster we delighted in the clickity-clack as we raced down the walk bearing down on groups of employees, swerving around them at the last second and rocketing down another walk.

The best surface was inside the building. The rotunda had mirror smooth marble, inlaid with the state crest of Arizona. Of course, those skating sessions only lasted a few minutes each time. Our sounds would invariably bring an indignant adult out of an office door, shouting, “You kids get out of here; you know better than this!”

As my granddaughter’s class was solemnly shown the various chambers where the state legislators worked at the time, we walked past the library door. I recalled a friend and I happened by that same door many years ago. An older boy, Ken, asked “Would you like to see the lady on the dome?”

“Sure,” we replied. We followed him on tiptoe through the deserted library to a corner where we climbed some empty shelves and through a scuttle hole to the roof. Breathless, we looked with awe across the city below. Startled by a creaking sound, we glanced up to see the golden winged lady weather vane moving slightly in the breeze. We left the same way we had come and then wound our way down the circular stairway to the ground floor.

When my granddaughter’s class walked down the big staircase they were allowed to stop and lean forward over the railing to study the state seal on the rotunda floor. As the teacher explained the meaning of each part of the seal, one boy was reprimanded for causing his loud voice to echo. “Too bad,” I thought. “This was the neatest place in the world to test your yodeling and hear your voice resounding back to you, again and again. That is, until some grownup ordered you to leave.”

Back on the bus later, as we headed home, my granddaughter turned to me and asked “Did you like the state capitol, Grandma?”

“Oh, yes,” I replied. “The capitol is always fun.”