It’s a small
town Friday night...thats a song too, I believe by John Melloncamp but I am not
too sure. I have often wondered why I
feel so much younger when I am here. I am not alone in this, another friend of
mine here mentioned it as well a while back and after a brief discussion we still
couldn’t pinpoint it. I think I now have it figured out. There are a few
factors, one is the music....if English music is playing somewhere it is almost
always old stuff, stuff that I remember from when I was a kid. I walked by a
mechanic shop the other day and they had Cindy Lauper blaring on the stereo,
remember her? She had a few huge hits and then disappeared.....she’s here. And Tiffany
is here too, and how about the Grand Funk Railroad, they sang “The Locomotion”...yup,
they here too, and of course John Denver is here as is Ringo Star and I heard
Stevie Wonder the other day and I think Olivia Newton John is here as well.
When I hear these songs it makes me want to dance right there in the street in
front of the mechanic shop....makes me feel young. I asked the guy if he could
understand the words to the song, he laughed and said no, he just likes the
music, can’t blame him, who doesn’t like chiving to a little Manic Monday ...on
a Saturday while you’re playing with wrenches under a 100 year old Chevy.
Another
reason I feel young I think is because some things here as just like they used
to be....when I was young. Moms send their kids to the store for milk and an
egg (you can buy just one egg) and they are excited to go, proud as can be to
be to be given this grown up assignment. I see them walking by my house
cuddling an egg or steering their bike with one hand and swinging a loaf of
bread from the other.
Some women
still wear “house dresses”, remember Sears used to have a section of these,
women wear these to do their house work and they walk to the store with their curlers
in. The older women that is ....which makes me feel young; I am too young for a
house dress...yet. Although I have been eying those dresses up, I like them and
will wear mine proudly when it’s time and I am willing to experiment with
curlers as well.
I hung out
at the hotdog stand on Saturday evening for a few hours; brushing up on my
Spanglish and watching the village do “Saturday night”. Across the street is a
volleyball court, which is a cement pad with a net. There is a game going on,
the teams are a mix of grown men, teenagers, and little boys all playing
together, and only half of the players are wearing shoes and the other half are
wearing flipflops. Right beside it is a Basketball court which is a cement pad
that is raised about 2 feet, no boards around it; you just have to pay
attention to where the edge is or you could break a leg .....or your head.
Then, to raise the stakes just a bit more there are skate board ramps set up on
the edge of the court and there is a basket ball game going on and kids on
roller blades and kids on bikes jumping the ramps....all at the same time on
the same cement pad with a 2 foot drop if your judgement is off. And kids of
all ages playing here, not once did I hear a kid cry, because if you cry you
might have to go home and can’t play anymore, and no one wants that, because
there is nothing fun at home like video games or whole rooms full of toys. This
isn’t organized by parents or even monitored, and it works, everyone seems to
be having fun. This is how it used to be.....makes me feel young.
Kids and
adults still ride double or triple on a bike, just like we used to do....at
least we did until my sister got her foot tangled up in wheel spokes...ouch.
I get taken
back in time so many times in a day here that is it impossible to get old.
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