purplerabbit

I know I am posting a lot but the memories are so vivid and so beautiful. I just want to share and there is no one around to share them with.

We didn't really have air conditioning or even good fans when I was a kid. Summers in Oklahoma can get pretty hot. And they stay that way at night. So many times during the summer, my sisters and I would sleep outside in the backyard. One summer night we were asleep in the yard when my sister woke up yelling that a big rat had just ran across her. Curious and skeptical we got our flashlights and searched the back yard. Much to our surprize, we found the culprit -- a large armadillo! Somehow we girls captured the monster with a trash can. It hissed and jumped and we didn't know what to do with it. But we were proud of having caught it all the same. Now about this time, our Dad came home from work. Dad was the foreman of the night shift at work. He left for work while we were a school and came home after we were "in bed." This night the man came home to find his three eldest girls and their "new pet." We tried to convince him that we should keep it. Dad wisely explained to us that it was a wild animal, was frightened and dangerous. He convinced us to let him release it somewhere safe. So Dad loaded the trashcan in to the station wagon and drove it to the edge of town and released it. He didn't get mad at us. I remember him being amused and patient.

Dad always seemed to be able to handle our antics. Hot summer night adventures with armadillos? No problem. What was he most afraid of? He said it was that he would someday go broke buying kotex and have to chase the boys away with a big stick.