River of Dreams

Time was all a country boy had. A river all he needed. A summer-day swim, tending a fishing pole or floating lazily downstream in a skiff washed away a boy’s day, like raindrops on newly fallen snow. “Out behind the barn” and “barefoot in the summertime” were terms boys understood. The women’s undergarment section – found in the outhouse Sears Roebuck – a boy’s porno before vulgar was acceptable. A leg-switching from a tree branch of a boy’s own choosing, kept him toeing the mark, and mouth-washings with lye soap kept him talking proper.

COUNTRY WISDOM WAS: “If a boy doesn’t have enough grit in his craw to get in trouble once in a while, he probably ain’t gonna ‘mount to a hill of beans.”- George Warren