Wheels on The Bus Go Round & Round

I grew up in a rural area. In fact, I lived a 1/2 mile from a dairy farm. As a kid this truly meant one thing. I rode the bus to school. My elementary school was about 4.5 miles from my house but the school bus route probably covered about 20 miles. I was on the very edge of the school district and the route followed the edge. This meant I was usually one of the first kids on the bus and would often ride the bus for 30-45 minutes before I even got to school. The flip side of that I was often one of the first few kids off of the bus.

As I grew older and kept advancing at school the bus rides got longer as the middle school and high school were about 7-8 miles away from my home. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time on the bus and learned quite a bit during that time.

In elementary school, I learned about 'it'. Now I wasn't sure what 'it' was, but I knew when I was older I would figure 'it' out. I also learned that its probably best to not defend yourself with an umbrella unless you enjoy morning visits to the principal to call your mom.

In middle school, I learned that a clarinet case makes a great arm rest to use for a nap. I found out the hard way that when boys punch you, it means they like you. I learned that the older kids reserved the right to the back of the bus which meant by the time I was in 8th grade I could reserve the back seats for me and my friends. Back there I learned about hair spray and what height you could use it too. I also learned that Mt. Dew and vodka mixed rather well. I learned that turning a bus around on an ice covered dirt road doesn't usually work out well for the bus.

Freshman year of high school, buses were cut, but they brought them back for my sophmore year. My bus riding in high school was sporadic at best. I did what I could to try and bum rides until I turned 16 and then I started car pooling with a friend who lived a mile away.

My favorite year on the bus had to of been 8th grade. It just happened to work out that there were about 6 of us girls who took over the back of the bus. We all had grown up together and had no idea that the next year we'd all go in such different directions in high school. But we had a great time back there that year.