In 1965, seventh grade students didn’t question their teachers like they do today. So when Mr. Del Argo asked me and my fellow student if we wanted to go on a special Saturday field trip with him, we went.

Mr. Del Argo, the Science and Math teacher at Walnut Creek Intermediate School was about 9 feet tall. Although he was very serious, he had a nice manner and wasn’t all weird like a lot of other teachers were. He seemed as though he actually liked kids. I heard he later left teaching to become an FBI agent, which sounded about right.

On the day of the trip I wanted to be cool, so I wore tight black jeans, a surfer shirt, which was a tee-shirt with horizontal stripes, and pointy shoes we called “Beatle boots.”

Mr. Del Argo drove us to Lake Merrit, I guess because they had stuffed birds there. I like looking at birds, but theirs were all mounted high on a wall, looked kind of dusty, and were, of course, dead. Still, it was neat. We got to throw food at the live ducks and coots afterward.

Later we went to a farm somewhere and saw a raccoon and deer.

I still don’t know why Mr. Del Argo picked us to go, or what it was all about. But considering I don’t remember much of Jr. High, it must have meant something.