It’s hotter than it used to be here in Hurst, Texas. When we were kids we would head outdoors right after breakfast was over and not come back in til the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were ready at lunch time. Then, right back out until we were called in for dinner. Usually, we would go back out after dinner and stay out until we were called in for bed. Summertime in Hurst, Texas was more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
One of my favorite memories of summer back then was to stay out after dark. We would lay out on the cool grass and look at the stars. You could see the stars back then. A highlight of any evening would be the occasional “shooting star”. Life was so good...so simple.
Of course these memories are of a kid without any responsibilities. Our parents probably thought summers were long, hot, and miserable. We also had no clue what was going on in the rest of the world. No one told us about the festering problems in Vietnam. In fact, one of our neighbors who was several years older than the rest of us joined the Army...or I should say we thought he joined the Army. Turns out he was drafted into the Army. He came home after his induction and told us he was able to choose where he wanted to be sent. He said he looked at the list, found a country he had never heard of, thought it would be nice and quiet, and volunteered to go to a little country called Vietnam. Yes, we were that naive...and we liked it that way.
Nothing much happened back in those days. The highlight of any summer was to get so sunburned that your siblings and friends could sit and peel the dead skin off of your back. Oh sure, every once in a while something spectacular would happen. Like the time my sister Cindy tripped over an electric fence set up to keep piglets corralled . Poor girl fell face first in the slop. I only got spanked for that (it was my fault) and not killed. Sometimes I think back and wonder if the spanking wasn’t for the uncontrolled laughter I couldn’t choke back rather than the actual “accident”.
Another exciting time was when Glenn and I were out playing after dark. There was a full moon that night when my sister (same sister, Cindy) climbed up on a brick wall between our front and back yard. Oh yeah, she happened to be wearing a white sheet over her head at the time. The sheet she was wearing got stuck on something and caused her to fall forward.. As she fell the sheet waved softly in the breeze as she screamed bloody murder. This got our attention and when we saw a screaming ghost flying over the brick wall we joined in the screaming and ran about two miles down the street. We would have run further but we lived on a cul-de-sac and got tired of running around and around in circles.
I guess I’m just getting old but summer isn’t fun anymore. During the spring I start looking forward to fall. During the winter I start dreading spring. Yes, I know I complain about this every year at about this time. Life isn’t fun in Texas in August. I really feel sorry for the transplants moving in from California and New York. They all probably decided to move to Texas in the winter when they were amazed they could walk around without a coat. Ha Ha, fooled them. I don’t allow them to complain to me about the heat. I didn’t invite any of them to move down here. Had I been thinking when this migration started I would have tried to work a deal to trade what they left behind for what I would like to leave behind. Sadly, I am married to Debbie. Not that I don’t want to be married to Debbie. I love being married to Debbie but she has mental problems. She loves Texas and she especially loves Hurst, Texas. She thinks there’s no better place to be. Since we compromise all conflicting opinions, we will continue to sit here in Hurst, Texas, sweating and complaining about the heat. Poor, poor, pitiful me.
