I chalked up another birthday earlier this week. The years go by fast with age, as most of you know.
Funny thing about getting old … my thoughts aren’t so much on the future but more on remembering the past.
Mary and I took our two granddaughters to Arnold’s Park a couple weeks ago, and boy, did that bring back some memories. The Arnold’s Park memory that came to mind was while growing up in Heron Lake on the last day of school each year, we got to take the school bus to Arnold’s Park for the day. I can’t pinpoint what grades got to make the annual trip, but I am guessing fifth- and sixth-graders. The really old, white roller coaster still traveled above the park filled with scared and screaming riders. You have to wonder how many kids took their first roller coaster ride on that thing.
The 600-page Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s hunting master catalog showed up in our mailbox last week. Once again an old memory popped into my head. Thoughts of the Sears and Robuck Christmas catalog came to mind. Before I even started paging through the Cabela’s catalog, I remembered the days leading up to Christmas when my two brothers and I would spend hours paging though the Christmas catalog. I also remember that most of the times we shared paging through the catalog, it ended in some sort of argument. My first new bicycle found its way under our Christmas tree one year because of that Sears catalog.
While fanning through the Cabela’s catalog, I didn’t have the same interest as I did with the Sears catalog. The lack of interest may be due to the fact that now I would have to pay for the items.
Let’s not forget the Sears catalog also had a women’s clothing section that featured the ladies’ unmentionable items as well. I bet there are more than a couple old guys out there smiling while reading this and know what I mean.
Ah, the memories.