One Big Mistake.

Since I was a Junior in High School when I moved to Florida way back in '82 (like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite), I had to visit the Guidance Counselor to figure out how to transfer my school history from Massachusetts to Florida, and then calculate the classes I needed to take to graduate from a Florida school. The Counselor made it known that my schooling in New England was stronger than what I was going to get in Florida, and that I only needed a few classes to graduate by the first quarter of my Senior year.

"Cool", I said.

So they gave me a list of classes to choose from, and on that list was a class that caught my eye.........French 1.

You see, where I lived in Western Massachusetts there's a nice little French population. I lived right on the Connecticut River near the Vermont border, and if you follow the river north through Vermont & New Hampshire (the Connecticut River is actually the boarder between the two states) all the way up to Canada you'll find yourself in French Canadian country.....Montreal, Quebec City, etc. You can actually listen to radio stations broadcast only in French in that area. So it was common in our school system for kids to take French as a language class requirement, and so I did......for 2 years. As in French 1 and then French 2. I should have been going into French 3 to continue my studies.

You must know that I was a terrible French student. Mostly C's & D's with a B- as my peak grade. Making matters worse, my French teacher, Mr. Routhier, had his son in my class who, obviously, was an A student. I was the antithesis of his son ,who spoke French like a Parisian. Needless to say I was also an annoyance to Mr. Routhier and he rode me hard for 2 years. So much so, that the only thing I can say in French to this day is....."Fermez la bouche, vous etes un cretin".........translation......."Shut your mouth, you're a moron". lol. Seriously.

So when I saw the French 1 class on the list I started to think......"Don't they know I've already had 2 years of French? Is this a test? Are they serious? They don't really know? If I'm able to take French 1 again.......I think....I think... I could do well. Will my old school tell the new school? Can I get this past my parents?...... If I check it and they say something, I'll just say I checked the wrong box.....yeah, that's what I'll do"

So I checked the box. (Routhier be damned!). I showed up to class and the teacher busted out the basics......la garcon (the boy), les femme (the woman), parlez-vous francais (do you speak french) and so on. Well! I was a master. Before long all the girls in the class surrounded me and were stunned at the ease in which I mastered the French language. Yes.....Mr. Routhier......I was a "star", an *A* student in French!

I never told anyone and nobody ever asked (my parents still don't know), but I was the best French 1 student in the history of Deland High School. How they ever overlooked such a thing I have no idea. Which brings me to my point.................

How I ever overlooked the need to have flowers around my garden to attract bees I have no idea. But I did. I'm like the Guidance Counselor and overlooked an easy, obvious issue. So I had to humble myself (if only I could humble that Routhier! lol!) and go to Lowe's to BUY some flowers and hope that I attract some bees to pollinate my squash before........the pickleworms get here! One big mistake.............. I won't make again.