James Laird - Lark Ellen Home for Boys Grow Gardens- Page 2

We often got a ride to the beach near the Santa Monica pier so we could go fishing for perch or just walk along the beach front to Ocean Park. The first time I saw muscle beach I was amazed by what those guys could do with their bodies. One man rolled up to the bars in a wheel chair and managed to get a hold on one of the lower bars. He had one of the most developed chest and arms I have ever seen. His small legs moved around like feathers when he put his upper body in motion.

Some of the others had big muscles without any fluid motions and range of operation. Sometimes we would go to the fun house on the pier at Ocean Park. Our favorite thing was the giant slide. It was called the Bamboo Slide because it was made with round boards that looked like bamboo. You had to climb a set of steps that took you up between the big roof trusses into what would have been the attic of the building if it were closed in. You had to take a gunny sack with you to slide on. You placed the sack over the top edge of the slide then placed your body in the middle of it with it folded back over your feet with the end in your hands.