Oxon Hill reprise
I don't think I'd been back to my old high school since I graduated in 1977. Why would I? I didn't feel any great attachment to it while I was there, and in fact turned in paperwork for a transfer to Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt for what would have been my senior year. (It was turned down, of course.) I was dating a girl from Crossland's class of '76, most of my free time was spent with my Civil Air Patrol squadron at Andrews AFB, and if there had been a School Spirit test, I would have scored negative numbers. Didn't like - well, maybe that's a little strong, perhaps apathetic towards would be more accurate - most of my classmates, didn't give a damn about the school's sports teams, and as for the senior prom, I left early with my date, since we had a previous commitment to attend Disclave. Pretty sure I never went to Homecoming even while I was a student there.
So it felt pretty weird going back there Saturday, surrounded by a bunch of people I didn't know who had graduated in the 30+ years since I left. There wasn't much left of the places I used to hang out in: the library had been completely rebuilt and looked to have lost half its shelving in favor of computer workstations and class space; both of the temporary classrooms that had housed the AFJROTC squadron were gone (although the sign directing people to "Aerospace" was still there by the doorway) and the "lounge" under the skyway to the gym off the science corridor was just a stairwell - the book exchange shelf long gone.
I didn't stay long. I saw a few former classmates, talked briefly with Mr. Moran, who had been principal while I was there, and walked back to my car after about an hour. I'm of two minds about posting the pictures, since a lot of the pics are of places where things used to be, and aren't any more. Which seems more than a little pointless.
So it felt pretty weird going back there Saturday, surrounded by a bunch of people I didn't know who had graduated in the 30+ years since I left. There wasn't much left of the places I used to hang out in: the library had been completely rebuilt and looked to have lost half its shelving in favor of computer workstations and class space; both of the temporary classrooms that had housed the AFJROTC squadron were gone (although the sign directing people to "Aerospace" was still there by the doorway) and the "lounge" under the skyway to the gym off the science corridor was just a stairwell - the book exchange shelf long gone.
I didn't stay long. I saw a few former classmates, talked briefly with Mr. Moran, who had been principal while I was there, and walked back to my car after about an hour. I'm of two minds about posting the pictures, since a lot of the pics are of places where things used to be, and aren't any more. Which seems more than a little pointless.