ancient history

on my way home from Cincinnati I was only 35 minutes from Grayson
but I was tired and I chose to stop at the Lewis County Marathon/McDonalds 
I intended to get ice cream, but randomly chose this instead:

when I opened it and took my first drink as I pulled away
I was instantly transported back years and years-
my childhood began to roll through my mind like an old film as I drove

Crush-grape or orange
Strawberry Nehi
Black Cherry Soda (A&P brand?)

Friday nights at my aunt and uncles
watching the adults play Euchre for hours
quietly sitting, listening, learning the game and stuff I probably didn't need to

Sundays spent with extended family
three families crammed into grandma's tiny upstairs apartment
or spread out at Turkeyfoot Lake State Park

Paul Harvey's 
"Now you know the rest of the story"
and "Good Day"

Lassie
Lawrence Welk
Wonderful World of Disney

catching fireflies
walking the creek bank
playing tag

scary movies:
"The Blob" 
"The Birds"

Johnny Cash
Merle Haggard
Dolly Parton

Pettycoat Junction
Hee Haw
Green Acres

my first Euchre game
my first drink (and only) of hard liquor
my first cigarette (short lived attempt at smoking)

the uncle who spanked the boys (but not the girls) for not going to sleep
Papa John who gave me quarters for my buffalo nickels
a different uncle who wrung the neck of my pet chicken in front of me

croquet
sandbox play
badminton

visiting great grandparents
not being allowed upstairs
using a chamber pot or the out house

homemade popsicles
koolaide
making popcorn in a pan on the stove, shaking the pan so it wouldn't burn

climbing trees
riding bikes
two broken arms

kickball
wiffleball
rolling down the hill on purpose

polaroid pictures
Chippewa Lake
Lake Anna

Barberton Chicken
Magic Freeze Ice Cream
Grandma's Cookies

riding the bus to school
moving to the city
the first time I realized my skin was a different color than my best friend's

the smell of a mechanic's garage
the sound of my dad crying at night when he badly burned his arms
the pride of working, pumping gas at my dad's filling station

dirt track car races
my family sleeping in the bed of the truck at the state fair
my dad asking a man to watch his mouth-"my wife and kids are here"

hoeing a row of corn with a hoe twice as big as me
my Boxer, "Troubles"
milk delivered to the house

it's amazing what the mind keeps hidden 
but can be revealed from a simple taste
and the snowball effect of taking time to reflect on an initial reaction