My Duck, Charlie and me watching TV in the Pad.  Charlie was named after the Million Dollar Duck, a popular movie at the time.

Yesterday I was driving through our small town.  I grew up here.  I drove some back roads to avoid traffic, these were the same roads I rode my bike on as a 10 year old kid.  I had a sort of flashback as I reminisced those times of innocence.  Summer seemed endless as my only goal was to go swimming, ride my bike, eat Twizzlers in an old oak tree and watch shows like Tarzan on my small black and white TV.   I had a few friends but I enjoyed my time alone the most.  There was a sense of freedom as I rode my bike all over town.  I had only a few responsibilities as chores at home but the rest of the time I explored and worked on my tree house.  The year was 1969, Apollo 11 was on its way to the moon, and I was on my way to the bayou with my pellet gun.  I knew that when the street lights came on in the evening, I had to make my way back home. 

One day Dad came home with a station wagon full of plywood sheets.  We were going to make the attic space behind my room into a getaway space that I called, “The Pad”.  After we installed the plywood floor I brought my small black and white TV in there, found some pieces of carpet for the floor, added black light posters and a black light.  There was an air conditioning vent that went through for the first floor, I cut a hole in it so I could get A/C in the Pad. I had two pet ducks and I would bring one of them, Charlie, to the Pad to watch TV with me.

There is something to be said for the simpler times.  I wish I could back and re live my summer of innocence.