A Long Walk to School

Funny the things you recall when you're in your 60's. I was making the bed the other morning and felt the little bit of warmth hiding under the pillows. I remember another chilly morning when I was seven years old `
I was making my bed before getting ready for school. That little bit of warmth felt so good, I crawled back into bed for just a moment or two. The next thing I remember was mom yelling at me to get up and telling me that I was be late for school!
I grew up in North Las Vegas. NV, when it truly was a separate community from the city of Las Vegas.  For years before being developed as a residential community it had been part of the military practice range for Nellis Air Force Base.  At least once a week at our elementary school we watched a film about how to identify dangerous explosive devices we may encounter in the desert surrounding our school! My older brother and his friends thought it would have been cool to find one! But I was terrified to even imagine that!
Our school, Lincoln Elementary, was the only one in the area. It sat in the desert a little under three miles from our house. We walked it every day as there also was not any bus service. We walked through the few developed streets of homes, then walked a path through the mesquite bushes to the school. The only time any parent offered a ride to school was when it was raining heavily or the wind was blowing hard enough to stir the dirt into stinging blasts!
Because I was late, my punishment was I had to still walk to school all alone! I remember being so scared! I had never done that by myself! And I remember how strange it felt to enter the school grounds after the classes had already started. While I was wondering if I should just go to my classroom, a campus monitor guided me to the office. I remember how ashamed I felt being escorted to my class by an office aide, And I still remember how all the kids turned and stared at me!
Did I ever oversleep again? No! So I guess you could say, "Lesson learned."
But when I think back, I now wonder why my mom would trust that nothing bad would happen to her little girl on that long walk all by myself? I know I would have never made my own girls do that! 
Sad memories from 60 years ago...