When I was a young girl I could not wait for summer! It meant long days of running in the park, playing tennis, going to girl scout camp, and venturing to the drive in theater. Oh what fun times those days held for me!
I can remember always wanting to walk to the drive in with my friends but my parents would never let me. If I wanted to go I had to either let them drop me off, or go with an elder sibling. I guess they assumed that I would get into mischief and I can’t understand why they would think that… I was always a perfect little angel… At least that’s what I told myself!
I can still remember all the kids piling up to the front where the benches were; we’d lay out our blankets spray on our mosquito repellent and wait in anticipation for the movie to begin. The smell coming from the concession stand was wonderful. Somehow the smell of popcorn, hot dogs and pizza in the wide open outdoors with the stars shining above you seemed like magic.
There were two highlights at the drive in every summer “triple feature night” and “free family night.” There would be car loads of patrons all over the place and the buzz of excitement was exhilarating. My personal favorite was family night because the feature movie was Ma and Pa Kettle. I don’t know if your familiar with the movies but they follow the lives of a poor farm family that have a bunch of kids. The family seems to innocently get themselves into some kind of trouble or another. The films are very old and in black and white. Ma Kettle is a taller plump woman that makes all the decisions and Pa Kettle is shorter, very sweet, kind and lets Ma do what she wants. The movies are cute, funny and all around good family entertainment.
Yes, those days were very special to say the least. I remember you could look up into the night sky and see so many stars above you. Back then the light from these distant entities seemed to be more vibrant to the naked eye. They would twinkle so brightly and it was as if they were moving before you in some kind of cosmic dance. My little home town still has the drive in theater and it’s continues to open for business every summer. The rows of old-time speakers that you had to hang on your car window are still the same ones we used when I was a child and the concession building is still in it’s original condition. They’ve even managed to keep the same popcorn popper and pizza oven that made the delicious food we snacked on as children.
I plan on going to see a movie during one of my family visits this summer. I fear I am too old to go to the front and lay on a blanket, but I’m sure I can talk one of my relatives into taking their SUV so we can back in to the parking place and sit with the hatch up and enjoy the night sky.
I hope that you can experience and enjoy a childhood memory this summer with your loved ones. Somehow I don’t believe the child in us ever dies. I think it’s tucked away for special occasions so that we never forget where we came from. I love my little home town and it’s little drive in theater, it has helped make me who I am today. Until next time… God Bless you.
justantherday 