SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY

After the Scooter craze left me, I became the proud owner of an Army jeep from WWII.  It used more oil than it did gas.  We’d pile in it and breeze out to the Hoopee to do some skinny dipping, fishing, and joking around.   There was never any alcohol, drugs, or even cigarettes.  We just had plain old fun!

Richard’s Daddy had a nice pond out in the country near Stillmore with a train caboose for a cabin.  He kept that pond stock with nice fish.  We helped him feed the fish.  Once, we put a couple of bags of feed in to help them get bigger, sooner.  We apparently thought they weren’t big enough for frying.  That got us into some pretty big trouble with the Doctor.   Later, when the fish did get bigger, we’d catch a bucket full and take to McKinney’s Pond to sell for gas money.  Our transportation at that time, was Richard’s Momma's big ole’ Cadillac.  If she only knew….

Now, the caboose was a great gathering place in the summer months for some serious fishing and frolicking.  Sometimes there would be a crowd of folks and sometimes just our gang.   Sometimes the Doctor would have his guests out for some fishing and always had a pretty good stock of food in the kitchen there.  Once, we opened up some Caviar and helped ourselves with some saltine crackers.   Dr. B was pretty upset over that one too. 

Water skiing was a big priority during the summer.  Groups of us would gather at Holloway’s pond, and spend a whole day water skiing.  Richard had a nice boat.  We had some good skiers too in our crowd.  Sumner's Beach was another good spot for water skiing.  It was the “country resort” in our day. 

One year, at Christmas, we decided that there were some families in the black community that needed some help with their meals.   It was a common practice in those days for the grocers to leave their produce out on the sidewalk overnight.  We would take just a little from each one, put it in a paper sack, and strike out for the homes we thought might have little children in need.  I was the getaway driver in my Daddy’s ’50 Ford, and the others would jump out and run put the sacks on the porch of the houses.  We were kind of modern day Robin Hoods.  

My Daddy always parked his car around back of the J. C. Coleman Hotel.  At first, I would go ask him if he would let me drive around town to see my girl or run an errand.  After I got legal, I got smart and had myself a key made so I could slip around the corner without him ever knowing and always get the car back by the time he got off work.  Once, I needed a part for my Scooter so I got a couple of boys and we headed off to Augusta with Daddy’s car.  I was doing my normal speed.  Fast.  We were way down the road when the right front tire blew out.  Major blast.  I handled myself pretty good and brought that car to a standstill just off the side of the road.  I put on the spare, made it back to town and took the tire to Flanders Tire Co., where I talked Mr. Flanders into giving me an old tire so Daddy wouldn’t miss the one that blew out.  The car was back in its spot when Daddy got off from work.  

I sold my scooter and my jeep for a fine and dandy little black ’40 Ford with a rumble seat in the back.  It was something fine!  I can see me and Rose now cruising Sam’s Drive-In.  Those were the days!

It's been a long time since those days.  Good times, bad times, funny times, and sad times.  Material things come and go, but a lifetime of good friends and wonderful family make life worth living and I'm so proud to have had both.