Mr. Chessmore

I have very few memories of my school teachers. I had some teachers with hick Okie accents (I lived in Oklahoma but my parents were from Arizona) so they used some words that confused me badly-- one teacher used the word "like" when she meant "lack": "Do you like anything?" meaning "Do you need a pencil or paper or anything?" and I had no clue what she meant. I remember in the 4th grade we recited the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in public school, the parents today would sue the school if they tried that.

The only high school teacher I remember at all was Mr. Chessmore. He was my Honors English teacher, and really made me feel smart. He chose me and another student to compete in a big statewide high school Shakespeare competition, so we went to the school library every day instead of going to class, for months and months, just studying Shakespeare. I think I won in the state, but I can't remember.

Anyway, Mr. Chessmore had funny limericks, rhymes, and puns that he said all the time in class. Here are two that I still remember:

You can lock me in jail, and you can throw away the key, but you can't keep my face from breaking out.

I love a little girl,
She lives on a hill,
She's a moonshiner's daughter,
And I love her still.