There was always something peaceful and safe about our yard. We lived on a very busy street and it was nosy and busy and there was something exciting/scary happening fairly regularly. Despite that we had a certain oasis within the picket fence that surrounded our yard. We always had either grass or a garden in the front yard and right in front there is a fig tree that always produced amazingly juicy figs for about a month or so in the summer. The tree had one low branch that stuck out like an arm and we used to hang it, sit on it and dangle from it on a regular basis. The branch had to be cut off a while back probably because of all of the abuse it took over the years.
One of the favorite pastimes on a warm summer afternoon was to play in the hose. My mom didn't mind because we were watering (or I should say drowning) the plants and grass and because it gave us something to do! We would spend hours making rainbows playing run-through games and getting the surrounding sidewalks washed. One particular day I (Gretchen) was playing with the hose with gusto and making a big arching fountain which happened to be pouring onto the street. Now, I was a bit of an awkward kid and at this point I had really short hair and was sometimes mistaken for a boy. On this particular day I had decided that just a pair of shorts was a fine water outfit. No need to get a shirt wet in the process! So as I was absentmindedly shooting water into the street I was also getting passing cars wet. All of a sudden the screeching of brakes broke me out of my revere and a VERY angry lady pulled over, got out of her car and came marching over. She yelled something like "LITTLE BOY! YOU JUST SPRAYED MY CAR!!! And then proceeded to try to scare me by saying that she was going to tell my mom what I was doing! I think she used some choice words as well.
Needless to say I quickly threw down the hose and ran inside. I was pretty shaken up not just because of the scary situation but because she had thought I was a boy! It was a scary experience but it did make me more aware of where I was pointing the hose from then on.
6 comments:
I hope I never get so old or grouchy that I stop my car to yell at kids on the street for ANY reason!
I bet I had that same "pixie" coiffure.
That would be pretty scary! She probably just got her car washed... Sigh.
Yeah, now that I'm an adult I kind of understand how miffed she might have been.
Some bratty unattended little boy trying to squirt cars for fun....AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT!
I had a similar thing happen to me playing with the hose on Painter. I wasn't paying attention and got our neighbor's car wet. "Ray" came over and sternly told me that next time it happened, I would have to wash his whole car. I was completely mortified, and that definitely squelched my enjoyment of playing in the hose for a while.
heh, this brings to mind a couple childhood memories of my own!
we were playing with water balloons. throwing them at passing cars. one went through a window and completely soaked the driver... she said loudly (yelled), "you sons of ..." and quickly put on the brakes. We ran inside the house and she came to the door. !!! And thanked us for an eventful afternoon because she had always gone home without anything interesting to tell her kids. She also recommended we didn't continue throwing those balloons. (c:
Also, i got mistaken as a girl when I was little 'cause of my long hair. Was alarming. I think it was a Halloween and I was dressed as a girl. dc:
Where was I when the kids were throwing water balloons at passing cars?! Ignorance being bliss, this is the first I heard of it! :-)
More, Gretchy, Moooore!
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