As If It Were Yesterday

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Yes, an old cliche but so true.  As I stood at the window above this morning drinking a cup of coffee, it all came back to me.   Today is another 104F degree day.  The heat is overwhelming, but after watering the grass last night the air has that coolness that you can smell.  The breeze is so slight that the vertical blinds barely move and you might think it your imagination.   

When I was a kid during summer, we would wake up and watch the curtains in the breeze.  My dad had installed a giant attic fan that would draw the air in at night.  We didn't have air conditioning then and we played outside until it cooled off enough to go to sleep.  Those mornings were special.  That feeling of being free from the fears of not doing all your homework and the bully at school was put at bay for a couple of months hoping in your mind he would never return.   The smell of toast that my dad had just eaten for breakfast made its way up the stairs.   But those curtains moving in the breeze, just enough to make you want to believe it was cool.   That smell of air that can only be shared if you are there it is so hard to describe.  Mrs. Cowdry across the street scratching that damn metal grass rake on the pavement.  She did it just to annoy us.  I don't think she liked the fact that there were always 10 kids running around playing on "her" street.  That was over 40 years ago.  It makes me weep to think so much of my life has gone by.  Yes, I know, there is more but we never know when or how.  I miss those days although I am happy where I am now.  To think that my worries then weren't worth a penny and that boogie man who lived in our attic never came out to get me.  Yep, just like it was yesterday.