Have you ever tried to converse with a younger you?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a conversation with a younger you? You know, maybe sit down with a teenage you and discuss some of the changes that have taken place in the world since you were that age?

I do that on occasion — that is, I carry on a mental conversation with a younger me. Or, maybe, I picture myself explaining some of the latest high-tech innovations to some famous historical figure such as Benjamin Franklin or Mark Twain. In my imagination, these guys are always amazed at the latest technology or invention but, surprisingly enough, they are even more "blown away" by some of the cultural changes; and they don't always react the way I think they are going to.

Yes, my mind is fascinated with the idea of bringing someone back from the past in order to see what they would think of all the inventions, innovations and accomplishments that we routinely take for granted in our modern world.

And sometimes the past comes back to us in unexpected ways. For instance, this morning after breakfast, I went downstairs to my office to write this week's column. I wasn't sure what subject I would be writing on as my mind had been casting about for something interesting as I drank my morning coffee. At the breakfast table, Linda asked me what I was writing about and I told her I wasn't sure.

When I got to my office, I had the thought of checking what time the Razorbacks baseball game would be on, so I walked into our media room and turned on the TV. There was an old Tarzan movie on and, since it was almost over, I sat down and watched it. It would be difficult for me to explain the role these old Tarzan movies, at least those starring Johnny Weissmuller, played in my life during my formative years. All I can say is that I couldn't get enough of those old movies when I was a boy. And, yes, they were already old in the early '60s.

And believe me, in retrospect, they are terrible. The special effects are laughably cheesy, the acting is mostly wooden and the plot is mostly non-existent. Nevertheless, as a boy, I was fascinated with Tarzan and with Africa and the exotic animals and natives found there. All of which, I suppose, came by way of some film lot in California.

But this old movie and others like it always bring back memories of a happy time when life was carefree (not that it isn't now). I can remember running out of the house after watching an old Tarzan movie and finding a vine growing up a tree and swinging on that vine while trying to imitate the impossible yodel of Johnny Weissmuller, "Ahh-ah-ahhh-ah-ah-ahh-a-ahhhh!" And of trying to command obedience in animals with the universally understood utterance of, "Oom-gawah!"

Unfortunately, while Tarzan was able to command the elephant and the lion and the great apes with that simple command, I was never able to get our dog or our milk cow to do anything. But I always blamed myself for this failure. I figured I just wasn't authoritative enough to get my point across. Of course, I doubt I had a point other than trying to control a dumb beast, but such is life as a boy.

I was rather lucky to have grown up in Louisiana where there are many vines growing on trees, and so we boys found plenty of them to swing on. In fact, the very first Tarzan movie, Tarzan of the Apes, was filmed in Morgan City, La., in 1917. It was a silent film, but it had plenty of vines in it, and swamp too, which was used in place of African jungle.

Of course, the very idea of a silent Tarzan film seems somehow oxymoronic because, in such a film, there can be no "Ahh-ahh-ah-ahh-a-ahhhh!" to summon the animals and no "Oom-gawah!" to command them. I mean, what would be the point?

Sam Byrnes is a Gentry-area resident and weekly contributor to the Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Editorial on 05/10/2017