I AM GOING TO DO IT....

I am going to do it.... do it?Yes, I am going to do
it...I am going to stop being so reserve...No, I am not going to do
anything illegal...but I am going to have fun... I havelived life inside
the lines. Doing whatis proper... doing what others think isproper. I
think the Red Hat ladies haveit right. I would join them... but I amnot
a joiner.. Never have...My daughter will tell people about myscrap
with the Brownies... Never shouldhave told her that story. Some
thingsyou just shouldn't tell your kids.Peopleshouldn't know about your
past...... Oh,heck.. why not.See when I was about 8, I join
theBrownies.. Or did my mother send meto Brownies? Doesn't really
matter.I only lasted about 5 months, if that.You see between my house
and theschool where I went to Brownie's,there was a candy store... A
penny candy store.Now for those of you who aren't oldenough... a
penny candy store wasabout as big as a living room. Andfrom one end to
the other there wasa glass display counter. Inside thiscounter there
were rows of boxes.At least 5, some times more rows.And each row about
15 boxes.. Filledwith every kids dream of candy. Therewere Mary Jane's,
which had peanut butterinside. There were Double Bubble gum,that was the
size or your thumb. Therewere jelly bean types, Tootsies Rolls,taffy
types, hard rock candy types, andwax types.Wax types were big red
lips, mustaches,tongues, big teeth. These would fit intoyour mouth,
behind your lips but notcompletely in your mouth with the restoutside of
your mouth on your face. . And sometimes it changed. Like atHalloween.
When they had fang teeth.You would wear this and laugh withyour friends
until you got tired of itand then you would chew it like gum,until you
got tired of that, and spit it out.There were all kinds of favors,
banana,raspberry, tutti fruitti, cherry, licorices(which turn your teeth
black... whichwas soooooooo cooooool..parents didn'tthink so.)vanilla
and of course, chocolate.The curses of curses for me was.....
DoubleBubble Gum. I loved that stuff. I wouldblow the biggest bubble
with it. And ofcourse, drove my mother nuts with myconstant chewing with
it. Of course it ishard to chew it with your mouth shut,when you got at
least 2 wads of it in there.Some times 3 or 4. Sadly, it only took afew
times, and Mom would make me spitit out.And that is where Brownies
came in.I would take my 10 cents dues and stopat the candy store. I
would buy 10 DoubleBubbles. And I would go to Brownies andgive it to 9
others. But after about 5 months,the leaders complain to my mother that
shewas not sending my dues. (I think I kepttelling them, I would bring
it next time).When the leaders and my mother matchedstories... it seems
the weak link was .....me.Because the Brownie leader didn't not findthat
taking my dues and buying gum with it,was within the moral code,and I am
surethat lying was in there somewhere too. So Igot dumped. I thought
maybe the fact Ishared each time might be worthy defense,but they
decided not. So there it is... my shadypast. My one and only fraud career.
Dashed.And I am sure my mother was very persuasivein her usual way.
Which sent me on theroad of honesty...And all penny candy store
owners arein Heaven. That is the only place that theycould go with the
patience they had aseach child in the neighborhood, day afterday, many
times a day, would change theirminds at least 20 times each, of whichone
they wanted."I want the red one... no, not that one, theother one, and a
green one, ok, no I don'tthink I want a red one, give me a yellowone
instead. Is the black one good? Ok, giveme a black one and put the green one
back."Yep, candy store owners are in heaven alright.Other wise there
would be a stack ofstrangled children behind the store.So, I have
decided... to splash my feetin puddles. After all, I am going to get
acold anyway. I am going to walk thru therain with my hands held high
and enjoyeach drop. I am going to color trees purple,or maybe red. And
color the grass in swirls...And if I feel a little quick step or a jig
whenI hear music... I am going to do a quickstep or a little dance
step... why not...Yep, I am going to do it...

August 02, 2012