Mike's Car

i first saw my best friend Mike's  1955 Buick Special  after school one day. I heard the Beach Boys singing, "After six hours of school, I've had enough of the day. I hit the radio dial and turn it up all the way. I love to Dance.." it was an omen! There was Mike turning the radio up on his 1955 orange and green Buick Special; (he said the title said melon and turquoise, but you or I would call it orange and green). He motioned me over and I dug in my pocket for change. Those were the rules: If you wanted to ride, you helped pay for gas. When the car was full of riders, we'd buy gas for $.22/gallon and cruise Euclid.
The car had other features:
Mike could let the clutch out while he was coasting down hill, reach over and turn the key off and on and it would backfire with a loud bang -- at least until he did that while sneaking up on a junior classman and it also blew the muffler completely off the car.
And finally, it had a hole rusted in the front passenger floorboard, where if you weren't close to a convenienient stopping place, the passenger, male or female, could thereby find some relief, instead of wetting their pants, although occasionally a bystander might say something like,"hey, I think your radiator has a leak." None of these features were listed on the title.
Though long gone, it ranks right up there with Elvis' pink cadillac.

Mushrooms and Blackberries

Just back from breakfast with our church friends at the Rakota (best omelettes in town) and I had the usual -- mushroom and swiss -- and I realize why I love mushrooms. I was born in a little town in Ohio and once a year, my family would go out to the woods and the grownups would gather mushrooms, while we kids would pick blackberries. Then, back to grandma's where the mushrooms were breaded and fried in butter;  and the blackberries were baked into pies -- yum!