Sunday, April 15, 2007

Will work for beer....

18 years have passed since I walked out the front door of my first little house, drove in reverse down the dead end street....

And started over again....

No map, no plan, no stick, no bandana....just an unairconditioned car piled with youngin's
and
the belief that I could do this.....

And we did.

Some of the best times of my life, hunkered down in our "Are we homeless, yet?" days.... Skinny and I at the kitchen table brewing up "there must be a way" dreams....

Moon Stars and Paper started a chain of love, dig up a picture from 20 years ago, and feel the love. I spent five minutes plundering through the suitcases of memories, but before I made it back that far, my fingers fell on this one, and I knew. It's exact copy has been plastered on my refrigerator door for 17 years.

Skinny on the right...
It's a hot, hot Sunday morning and we're packing up. When we get there, we'll plop down in the the old wooden chairs, arranged in a perfect circle, stretch our legs out in front of us and stack our barefeet in the middle of the cement meeting place, toe to toe. The flakey ole paint, pink, aqua, yellow and green will stick to our bikinied rumps and our Ban de Solie'd thighs and we'll smile at the sky and the passers-by, the regulars, the waitress, and Tony and Joe. Ice cold beers arrive and disappear. Evaporate by the heat and our unquenchable thirst. We'll laugh and tell stories, make friends, dare each other silly , maybe even cause a ruckuss.... We'll order a giant hamburger, all the way, with greasy fries, and a dill pickle, that will sweat in the sun. We'll ask for a knife and divide it into thirds....

This sign was good for two and half Sundays at the beach. "Do Not Jump The Fence" sat propped up in the garage, we'd pull it out, toss it in the trunk and gift it to Joe when we ran out of credit.....

19 comments:

Bardouble29 said...

sometimes, just walking away and starting over is a type of freedom in itself...I love hearing the stories of your family.

SpongyBones said...

You two crack me up with your running stories!

singleton said...

bardouble.....
We gotta take whatever's free in life and run with it!

spongy....
are you feeling a theme here?
peace~love~runnin'as fast as we can!

Reflections said...

I love your stories, I think we can all see ourselves in them. Thank you!

vicci said...

Great picture! and story! I always love looking at any photos you post..and your wonderful stories always bring such good memories to mind....they are like links in a huge chain that just keep on movin right along! Love ya! Hope you are having a great sunday! :-)

SHE said...

great read! -i think life rewards risk takers

with the thrill of more risks to take.

"to big R's and great blogs!
cheers!"

singleton said...

reflections....
when it all boils down to it, we're basically all the same....we just forget it every now and then!

vicci....chain of love, girlfriend!

she..."the thrill of more risks to take" has arrived... I think I'm just pumping myself up! Thanks for reading between the lines and cheering me on!

skinnylittleblonde said...

LOL...I can hardly believe that was almost twenty years ago!
We had so much fun making ends meet... painting signs for beer with burgers & making hippie beads for levi's.
The hurricanes blew Toni & Joe's to smithereens but last summer I saw them re-building...we may need to make them another sign for our June get-away!
GILYSFM

M@ said...

Your writing styles are so similar it's no wonder she's stealing from you. :)

singleton said...

SLB....dragging out the plywood now!

Matt...It's a tink thing,similarity. Happened from the moment we were both born black headed and wild eyed...and were blonde and skinny legged at three and thirteen, scraggly haired and gawky at ten and twenty, wild armed at 13 and twenty three, big mouthed at 16 and twenty six....fearless at 21 and thirty one.....looking for peace and love now....it happens when you're connected! SLBILYSFM!

JustRun said...

You have such incredible memories of taking risks and living life. I'm glad you share them like this.

Me said...

Such a beautiful tale of innocence <3

And a meaningful picture to boot. Good effort ;)

singleton said...

justrun...Sometimes I think the biggest risks I've ever taken are those I didn't take....when I "settled"...That much I have learned from our walks on the wild side!

orhan....It wasn't all that innocent! Once we figured out we would have to scrape, barter, and beg to just get by, we figured we could wheel and deal our way into some fun, too! It' worked! P & L

Angela Marie said...

This sounds is a great memory! Free as a bird... I don't know why but that is the song that comes to my mind when I read this!

I can bet that bar loved you too! Druming up some business for them! :)

I love your stories, you tell them so well!

singleton said...

oh Angela Marie....We like to think the bar loved us too, coming and GOING! We're reunioning in those big ole blistery seaside chairs in June! Can't wait to feel the sun on my nose, the love in our circle, and that beer in my right hand! peace, baby!

Angela Marie said...

Sounds like fun!
I can't wait to read your post on that reunion!

peace to you sweetie*

singleton said...

Oh and that will be a post! Feeling the love....reaching for peace...Grabbing the moment, Kimbies, and each other! Soaking in your peaceful wishes, sweet mermaid!

Me said...

Will work for peace and love

Hired!

Funny, the things you see when you're stoned ;)

singleton said...

Orhan....
So you found my resume'! ;)