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    Vignettes - Life's Tales Book One
    Vignettes - Life's Tales Book One
    Vignettes - Life's Tales Book One
    Ebook85 pages1 hour

    Vignettes - Life's Tales Book One

    By William Baker

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    About this ebook

    VIGNETTES, Book One, Two and Three, are a collection of short stories about the life experiences of its author, William (Bill) Baker.

    Each contains about twenty short stories. The stories are historically accurate and told in a sensitive, humorous way. 

    Parts, are very touching. Every reader will find themselves in one or more of the real life stories which range from:

    -Days of childhood mischief, to a Senior Air Force Officer,
    -Teen-age hitch-hiking, to serving a Four Star Knighted Officer of the Royal British Air Force,
    -Hanging a high school football effigy
    -Experiencing the Kamikaze raids at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, to romance on a cattle ranch.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereBookIt.com
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9781456605346
    Vignettes - Life's Tales Book One
    Author

    William Baker

    WILLIAM F. BAKER, PH.D. (New York, NY) is president emeritus of WNET, New York's PBS station, and a professor at Fordham University. He teaches Understanding the Profession: The Business of the Performing Arts in the 21st Century to students from Juilliard and Fordham.

    Read more from William Baker

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      Book preview

      Vignettes - Life's Tales Book One - William Baker

      Production

      VIGNETTE NO. I

      Tale of the Model T

      Oakland and Alameda, California

      The year is 1938. I am twelve, but almost thirteen. Bert, my step-brother, and his buddy Gus are both sixteen and big guys on the campus. After all, Bert is driving a 1934 5-passenger window Ford Coupe and Gus is always seen riding a motorcycle or some other form of transportation made from junk yard parts. Gus’s latest assembly is a 1913 Model T ford chassis and engine with a bucket body, orange crates for seats and no floor boards. Gus has announced, She is ready for a test drive on the Alameda mud flats.

      With that announcement Bert and I jump onto the vacant orange crate and hold onto the body as Gus jams the pedals of the unlicensed demon and sends us roaring down 50th Avenue to Foothill Boulevard then on to High Street, across the High Street Bridge and onto the island of Alameda and then to the mud flats.

      There, the mud begins to fly from the non-fendered wheels as first Gus then Bert take turns jamming the pedals and getting an instant reverse by pressing the reverse pedal when going forward and then doing the same thing with the low gear pedal when going backward to give a second instant change of direction. By turning in timing with the change of direction the T spins one way then the other. Mud is flying and I’m hanging on tight ever fearful of falling off of the orange crate and underneath the T. We spun, spin, lurch, spin and lurch some more. Suddenly, a loud bang tells of something gone wrong and the T comes to a stop in the deep mud.

      Gus races the engine, slams the pedals in and out. We aren’t going anywhere! A quick evaluation by Gus gives us the answer,,,,, the axle is broken. Gus jumps out of the body, into the mud and raises the rear drive wheel while slamming it back into the axle housing.

      Back on the orange crate, Gus eases out the drive pedal and ever so slowly we move to the nearby dry surface where with each revolution the drive wheel is moving out of the axle housing. After a short discussion, Bert and I jump out and take our positions. With the T creeping along and the drive wheel turning and coming out of the axle housing every twenty feet or so we are slowly moving up High Street. When our forward motion stops Bert lifts the drive wheel off the pavement and I push it back into the axle housing. At this rate it is going to be a long way home!!

      Then Gus stops the T and calls for a huddle. Gus has an idea.

      We are stopped alongside a lumber yard and a stack of 4 x 4’s. Gus directs Bert and I to get one of the 4 x 4’s. We give it a thought and possibly a word about stealing, but quickly conclude this to be an emergency and a 4 x 4 is retrieved. Then with Gus’s directions, the 4 x 4 goes under the rear axle and on the back of the body,. This takes the weight off the drive wheel but allows it to touch the pavement. With that arrangement, Bert and I trot alongside and as the wheel spindles from the drive shaft we push it back in and make our way home..

      END

      VIGNETTE NO. II

      Tale of Gus’s Mom’s Preserves

      Oakland, California

      The year is 1939. I am thirteen and almost fourteen. Gus, Bert and I are in the vacant lot next door to Gus’s house on 50th Avenue where Gus has finished working on his Indian motorcycle built from junk yard scraps. He hops on it, stands tall on the starter and slams his weight down. The Indian roars to life in an ear splitting roar. Gus releases the clutch and the Indian rears up on its back wheel and darts forward. On the sidewalk is grease from Gus’s efforts and as the motorcycle charges through the grease the rear tire slips, spins, and Gus looses control of the machine.

      Gus tries desperately to recover, but the centrifugal force is too much and the Indian motorcycle launches itself into the air, makes a sharp right turn and, still air borne, sails down the steep driveway crashing through the window paneled garage doors and landing on the basement floor. Gus, who has been ejected uninjured from the bike, scrambles to his feet and charges for the garage as Bert and me, race after Gus. The shattered garage doors hang limply from their mounts. Coming from inside the garage is the roar of the motorcycle’s engine and a lot of crashing and banging

      sounds. We moved inside the garage and there, the motorcycle, at full throttle, lay on it’s side spinning in a circle. First, it would slam into the back wall and then with the gear engaged the rear wheel would hit the cement foundation sending the cycle crashing again into the back wall. Around and around the motorcycle went, each time slamming into the back wall. On the other side of the wall were several shelves laden with Gus’ Mom’s preserves. With each slam of the motorcycle into the wall we could hear the jars of preserves crashing onto the cement floor. Gus frantically tried to reach the spinning motorcycle but with each of Gus’s efforts the motorcycle bounced off of the cement foundation and into the back wall. The preserves went flying!.

      After several attempts, Gus successfully shut-off the motorcycle and his mother stepped into the basement. She took stock of the scene, stood motionless, then in a strong controlled voice said, Clean it up.

      END

      VIGNETTE NO. III

      Where are those kids going?

      Oakland, California

      The year is 1943. I am sixteen. My friend of the time was Harold Bohanon and we were eleventh grade students at Fremont High School. Harold’s parent’s were separated with his father living in Reno. So it was that Harold and I decide to hitch-hike to Reno over Easter vacation. We made all the arrangements necessary to our departure like getting someone to carry my paper route, counting up our money,

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