Tuesday

BY POPULAR REQUEST…

I’m dong a Tuesday post. So get ready as I unleash a furry of jaw-dropping, action-packed, potentially lethal amount of humor and whit about the day “Tuesday.” Yes, it really is that amazing of a day.  

Here is the deal. My Tuesday is kind of of like everyone else’s Monday, and my Thursday is like everyone else’s Friday. Rough life right?  But this Tuesday is different from all the rest. Because as of 21:00 hours, I am free for the summer.

Here is the downer. It is being 22 years old. Out of school means into work. Of course I rather like the work I am doing right now and I can’t complain too much. However, there is no way it compares to summer as a kid.

SUMMER AS A KID…

was the best. Last day of school was full of parties, candies, and funny ‘graduating to 3rd grade’ ceremonies. If we behaved, we would get an extra cookie and we wouldn’t have to worry about anything being written on the dread “Permanent Record.” Usually, we were out early that day as well. Of course mom was ready to have us home, or at least she thought she was. Pure, innocent, laziness would set in for the next 2 weeks. I remember having to try my hardest to force my self to sleep in until 10 o’clock. I think I mainly did that because of Roxanne Robison. That girl could sleep! I could never figure out how, but she apparently didn't budge until at LEAST 2 PM.

That okay though. It didn't stop me. I said earlier that we were lazy for about 2 weeks. The reason being is this,

“Christ found his followers when they were working, the Devil finds his when their idle."

It held true for us to. About 2 weeks was all it took before mom would make the “new” rule that she created every year. The rule was this : “Get up, get breakfast, get out, you can come back in at dark. And if your going to carry a machete, at least don’t run with it.” Can I just say, ‘best rule ever!?’. The happiest times of my life are when I’ve been living by this rule.

I wish that I had pictures of the adventures we had back in those woods behind my house. Forts, lean-tos, canoes, “Snake Alley”, paintball wars, and everything in between. Needless to say, Jeffrey Johnson and I are the world’s BEST fort-makers. PERIOD.

When we got hungry, we would usually get a picnic lunch and bring out to whatever we were working on. Sunshine beating down on us, covered in mosquitoes, and minor injuries were no way to keep us from turning some rope, leaves, and tarp into a castle. We would make fire pits, talk of building second stories, and even connecting them with bridges. That was the life.

When It was finally time for a break, there was only one answer; “Chocolate malts at Grandma’s.” We knew where she kept all the ingredients (including the raw eggs that we used for ‘protein’) and Grandma always kept a running supply of vanilla ice cream in the deep-freeze out back.

NIGHTS END…

was what made it worth it though. When I moved out to California was the first time that I realized how much I missed the stars. I had grown up staring at them. A favorite memory is dad driving his truck out into the pasture and us laying there while he attempted to explain the constellation. Big task. And then, a nice soft bed to lay down a very tired, worn-out little boy.

THOSE WHERE THE DAYS.

Dale out.