Thursday, Mar. 04, 2010
Favorite places
Jan Huntsinger, Guest Columnist
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After this nasty cold and snowy weather, spring and summer will come. I just know they will.
Trying to figure out what to do with my new patio, compliments of the hard work of my son-in-law and grandsons, I remembered what was, without a doubt, the best place to spend time when I was a kid.
Air conditioning was not a wide spread convenience in the 1950s. Central air was found in the businesses about town and few homes had the traditional window units because of the expense.
For the kids of the 1950s, the heat of the day called for a lot of quiet time in the afternoon. We had our favorite places, like playing in the sprinkler of our backyard or lying on blankets under one of the many trees that lined our street.
If there were just a few of us, the place to be was our back porch that was screened-in. Dad had taken a plain concrete slab measuring 14-feet by 14-feet and turned it into a summer retreat. There was a wonderful large and comfy metal glider adorned with some large pillows made by Mom.
There were extra wide metal lawn chairs and, of course, the needed staple of a big hammock type lounge chair. Mom added some of her beautiful home grown potted flowers to the two round tables. There were bamboo roll up blinds that were lowered to shutout the afternoon sun. The floor was painted a dark red and a large oval rug was placed in the middle. A better place to relax could not be found.
Many a paper doll was cut out and many a picture was colored in that room. But probably the best time was had by sharing in the glorious stories of Archie Andrews, who was running for class president and needed the help of Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie to run his campaign.
Big sister Donna was mesmerized by the fashion queen Katy Keene. I always had the latest wild antics of Nancy and Sluggo, Little Lula and Tubby, Donald and the nephews of Huey, Dewey and Louie, Mickey Mouse and good ole’ Bugs and Porky Pig.
The boys were always engrossed in the latest adventures of Batman and Robin, Captain America, Superman and the adventures of the Lone Ranger and his faithful companion, Tonto.
These were the characters that we grew up with and shared many a warm summer afternoon with.
That retreat became a place of fun and laughter, of times shared not only with friends but with our family.
We were excited to see Mom set up our over-sized card table for the evening meal in our wired encased oasis. It was for us an inside picnic. Mom, as always, decorated the table with a tablecloth of bright flowers with her prize Fiesta dishes adorning the table and of course properly folded napkins, even if they were paper. After all, this was a picnic.
After dinner, with our stomachs full, we would just sit and relax, listening to radio, Dad reading the paper, Mom doing some of her cross stitching and Donna and I laying with our eyes shut listening to the waves as they washed across the beach. Oh yeah, that was the sprinkler watering the yard.
Did I mention we had very vivid imaginations?
Finally, I got in my Christmas stocking this last year an Archie and Jughead comic book. Bless his heart-I was sorry to see that Archie, in 2010, is still running for class president of Riverdale High.
Folks, he really needs to win so he can graduate and get on with his life. He’s over 50-years-old for crying out loud.
Jan Huntsinger, a Blue Springs resident, is a guest columnist for the Journal. To respond to today’s commentary, call 816-282-7001 or e-mail editor@bluespringsjournal.com.
