The Way It Was

Last night I received another essay from an acquaintance in one my hometowns in Kentucky. Entitled “Things I Miss About Summer,” Hugh writes of spending whole days at the city swimming pool, swimming “nekkid” in Devil’s Lake, catching lightning bugs, fishing, pick-up baseball games, catching crawdads in the creek, going to the icehouse, cranking the ice cream freezer, BB guns, comic books, the clandestine smoking of unfiltered Camels filched from Dad, camping with the Boy Scouts, the county fair, visiting relatives in the “big” city, exploring the woods, riding bikes for miles, building soap-box type cars, and riding the ferry across the Green River. It is a wonderful piece written about another time and a great place in which to grow up.


As I read each new essay, I have come to realize how much more freedom and fun boys in that era had than girls did. I can relate to many of his memories; I remember catching lightning bugs, my granddad taking us to the icehouse, cranking the ice cream freezer on the front porch after Sunday dinner, fishing, and reading and trading comic books. He has also written of the many pranks that he was in on and hitchhiking home from college on the weekends. Girls (perhaps I should only speak for myself) weren’t allowed so much freedom. When bike riding, I had to stay within view of our house. When we lived in town (as opposed to the country as we usually did), I wasn’t allowed to wander the streets as my brother was. The only place I was allowed to swim "nekkid" was in the bathtub with the door closed tight. The night my father died he told me to be home by 10:00 pm. I was 17 years old, had graduated from high school, and was gainfully employed. I didn’t resent it. That’s just the way it was.