Mistake continued 6

Let me tell you something about loafing in the heat of summer. After playing with friends in the high temperatures and having only water to drink, one might say something about getting a “coke” because he was thirsty. Every carbonated drink was a coke to us. I would make sure I had a nickel so I could buy one and we would go to the store. Someone would say, “What kind are you getting?” Another was likely to reply, “An Orange Crush.” I would usually get a Mr. Cola or a Double Cola because I could get about twice as much drink. Sometimes I would get an RC or Coca Cola, because I really liked them best.

Always in August and sometimes starting in July, we would have afternoon thundershowers. It would come with the accumulation of the clouds and start with thunder. Sometimes when the thunder stopped I would get out in the rain and cool down. I especially liked riding my bicycle in the rain. If it came too early in the afternoon and stopped before time for the temperature to start dropping, it would be so muggy and uncomfortable. But if the rain continued the late afternoon and early night would be a lot cooler (afternoon and evening were the same for us).

I had one sibling; an older sister. She eloped when I was ten. They, her and her husband, stayed around town for about a year and then move to Beaumont, Texas. She became pregnant soon after the move and then I was an uncle. Once when we went to visit, she was telling about her doctor; he lived in an air conditioned house, drove an air conditioned car, and worked in an air conditioned office. He lived in an air conditioned world! It seemed as if it would be living in a dream to me. I had been in air conditioning in stores and offices, but to live in air conditioning, oh my gosh!