small town life

Even though I have essentially lived in a big city for about 9 years,
i still remember the days of good ol Stony Sticks.

Riding home from school on the big yellow bus, Mr Bouvier yelling at us to sit down and the Frank boys, telling me all i needed to know about all I wasn't meant to learn until years later.

I knew the bad 4 letter words, I knew what they called the other kids and what it meant. I knew where babies came from before I should have. They told me all about it.

I remember getting on the bus, and how hot the seats were, scared to sit down, struggling to open those stupid windows with only one hand. Life was cruel, bus windows were meant for kids with 10 fingers. But finally I got it open, or bugged someone enough to do it for me. and if enough windows were open, you could sit on the bus all the way home, in a whirlwind of hair, eyes closed, face to the sun dreaming of what you would do when you got home.

I remember jumping on the trampoline yelling DOUBLE WHAMMIE as someone usually went flying off the edge, or got canned by the springs. I had my fair share of bruises to show for it. They were worth it.

I remember walking though the woods looking for a good place to build a tree house, or finding trees that could be used as a spring horse, enjoying the coolness of the shade, pretending the forest was so big that we couldn't see the edge. I was always grateful for Shadow and Missy, following us in their time, our silent guardians of the un-known.

I remember finding the spring run-off on the roads, and in the ditches and spending hours and hours trying to direct the water where we wanted it to go.

I remember finding kittens under the barn, and sneaking them out to hold them whenever the momma cat wasn't around. and when they were finally big enough, walking up the driveway to get the newspaper, with a train of kittens, happily following the string i was dragging behind me.

I sat outside in the sun today, by myself, eyes closed, enjoying the light breeze that kept the sweat away. It smelled the same, like fresh cut grass and dandilions.

I miss being a kid, but its not so bad when you remember that you can go back there any time. all you have to do is close your eyes and smile.