I'm not a huge fan of spring time. Oh sure, it's nice to be freed from coats and sweaters...to be able to sit out on the porch without either freezing or sweating, and to look forward to summer for some reason. But spring doesn't hold a lot of memories for me. I do remember the joy of switching over from football to baseball. I was a miserable failure at football, never even considered basketball with all that running and stuff, but I was a fair baseball player. At least I knew what was going on during any given game. Other than that, I wouldn't bother with spring.
Spring is when bugs start to show up. Creepy crawly bugs of all sort begin to show up. The absolute worst spring time spectacular is the coming of the season's termite swarms. Now, we haven't been bothered by termites in nearly 25 years but before that every stinking spring we would be swarmed...and it didn't matter which house we owned...termites swarmed in the spring. It got to where I started down a path of depression right after Christmas worrying about termites.
Spring is when it starts to warm up a bit too much. This year we've been blessed by a reasonably long spring. Normally in Texas winter ends on one day and summer begins the next but not this year. I have to admit, it's been nice. But I still don't like spring. Spring is the prelude to summer and summer in Texas is...to remain a Christian...not very nice.
I despise summer. Cookouts, fire works, baseball games, or anything else remotely considered fun can not compensate for the cotton-picking heat. I begin looking forward to fall sometime around the middle of June. Sadly, it's a long wait since fall generally happens in late November down here. Fall is always a nice weekend though.
Winter is....eh, you know. It's winter. Nobody likes winter. So now you know I'm only happy during the weekend we call "fall". So why do I live in Texas you ask? Go ahead, somebody ask. You back there on the third row second seat....speak up boy! Well, I'll tell you why I live in Texas. Two reasons come to mind. First of all my mama lived in Texas the year I was born so I felt I needed to be here for that. Secondly, grandchildren. I can't move away from my grandchildren. Just watch though. All of them will graduate from college, marry, and move off to Idaho or Colorado....or maybe Virginia! The less intelligent ones might move to Florida, but I know none of them will stay here. If I'm still breathing I'll be stuck right here in Texas. Just me and Deb. The boys have already said they're out of here as soon as all the kids leave home. Why will we still be here in Texas? Because Hurst is in Texas and Debbie can't leave Hurst.
Don't get me started on Debbie's love of Hurst. She was dropped on her head as a baby and never fully recovered. And, I didn't start this story with the plan of talking about Hurst, or Texas, or seasons for that matter. Truth be told, I can't remember the story I was about to tell. It's gone from my memory now. I thought of it during the night and managed to hold on to it til I started writing, then POOF, it was gone. If my memory doesn't come back completely soon I'm going to have to start making stuff up.
I told Debbie recently I was having flashbacks of my youth but always late at night. She suggested I write myself notes about the memory before going back to sleep. Very few people carry pen and paper to bed with them and I'm one of those people. Then she reminded me I could make notes on my phone to be read back later. I thought that was a great idea and began putting words down to spark my memory. So far I have "Starbucks", "Pelican, and "Giant Snake". I don't know where to go with those notes. I'll keep working on it.
In the meantime, if you remember something from the past and I was even remotely related to the incident, please let me know. Maybe it will spark a story. I do have memories left that aren't funny. It seems sadness and misfortune aren't easily forgotten but I sure don't want to write about any of that. My job is to lift your spirits and I know I've failed lately. This NPH did a number on my brain. Stupid NPH....stupid, stupid, stupid...but hey, at least I'm still handsome!
