Lemon hat

I got this gift quite a while ago, in fact on my last trip to Ellinwood to see the family. It's another one of the long list of things I've gotten to commemorate my upcoming 40th birthday. To see what else I've gotten, click here and here. It took me a while to figure it out, but I think I've done it. Those who are responsible for the gifts, you will have to correct me if I'm wrong.

Summer vacations when I was a kid were few and far between. My dad is self-employed and getting away was always a bit of a challenge, not to mention that money was sometimes very tight with five kids in the house. But when we did go somewhere, it was usually to Colorado. My dad always drove. Window rolled down. Left arm resting on the door of the car. His arm always got incredibly sunburned on those summer vacations. I believe this story comes from the summer of 1978, but again, someone will have to correct me if that's not right.

I was nine, but since my siblings are so much older than I am, they were all busy with summer jobs. It was to be the last summer my oldest sister, Teresa, would go on a family vacation because she got married the next summer. On the drive out to Colorado, Teresa punched me in the nose for no reason. My mom was quick with the camera (she'd actually remembered it on this trip, usually she forgot the camera) and she snapped a picture of me after the punch, obviously shaken and surprised. And then she got a picture of Teresa after the punch, clearly jubilant and celebratory. I wish I had them to post but I don't. That's how the trip started.

Later on that trip, Teresa and I felt there was some unjust occurrence between our parents and ourselves. I can't even remember why we were mad at them. I do know that it was after a stop at a Sonic or similar drink stand along the way. Our method of annoying them and making them pay for whatever transgressions they'd carried out against us was to eat the lemon wedges out of our drinks. For some reason we thought this would teach them a lesson to never cross us again. We laughed and giggled for a long time in the backseat of that Thunderbird while our faces reacted to the sourness of the lemons.

Good times.