The trail runs along big back yards of some beautiful homes and a creek. Paul and I were quietly peddling - and I could hear the critters. I think they were locusts - singing, with their legs eeeoooeeeooo. The temperature was just right too. It's summer in Iowa! It took me back for a few minutes. Back to my childhood in Atlantic.
I recalled in an instant those fabulous summer evenings - playing with my sisters and the neighbor kids as the summer sun dwindled. I didn't want it to get dark, because I knew my Mom would call and we would have to go in for the night. Those summer days were golden - how lucky we were to have them.
Kick the can, Sardines, Ghosts in the Graveyard - it was such heady stuff when I got to play with the "Big" kids on warm, humid summer nights. We even stretched it out under some moonlit nights too. A few times put on plays, like "Little Red Riding Hood" in Reinertson's backyard - using their clothesline with a blanket for a curtain. My grandma, Momo typed the tickets on her IBM Selectric typewriter.
Tonight after we rode through the small park a couple blocks east of 60th Street, we turned and rode back north through a neighborhood. I was happy to see a gang of about eight kids in a front yard of one house. They sounded like they were counting off, perhaps to see who was "It" for their next game. There was one little guy - no doubt he got cheated into being "it", courtesy of being youngest. It's nice to know some things don't change.
On the way home, we rode along Jordan Creek on the north side of EP True, we heard a catbird call and some blackbirds made themselves known. It was a beautiful summer evening. There were lots of other bikers and walkers out tonight. Perhaps they too were on a walk down memory lane.
 |
| A view from the bridge we cross - taken earlier this summer |
No comments:
Post a Comment