OPINION: Raindrops bring memories of big toes, rocks and rainbows

It happened last Tuesday morning. Let me clear up what at least part of the 'cuff is going to be about. It was two Tuesdays ago, not the one just past, but it happened about 9 a.m. on the 12th day of July.

What made that morning so enjoyable was the temperature, a nice spring-like, barely 70-something with a nice breeze and an overcast gray sky ... not the usual something with a bright golden sphere that had filled Westside Eagle country since the beginning of summer.

Hadn't several of those tube weather experts suggested there was a slight chance that northwest Arkansas "just might" (that's my term) get one of those "maybe showers" which were headed south and east?

Now, after all of that time, do you know what the old 'cuffer, make that the old geezer, believed? It didn't feel like a shower would arrive and that by quitting time that evening Old Sol would be headed toward Tulsa and all that territory west of Eagle Observer land. Nope, the old guy was just going to get in old Greenie, the gas guzzler, and head for the post office to pick up the bills and all that other stuff that sometimes arrives unexpectedly. As I got behind the wheel, I noticed a number of raindrop splotches on the windshield. I decided not to turn on the windshield wipers because those drops would turn into mud. So ... it was off to the postoffice and back home with no bills, no magazines, no nothing. Hooray, that was almost as good as seeing the sunrise every morning.

So what else hit me? The gray matter settled on a day several years ago when drops on windshields were the topic of a 'cuff. I cannot forget that 'cuff column, but I cannot remember the number of drops. So, last Tuesday, I climbed out of old Greenie and counted the splotches. There were 17 drops. Then my mind turned to other things that happened during the -- what we call them -- "good old days." During those days, the thermometers always seemed high enough to cook eggs on the sidewalk; there would be days after days after days with no rain and there was nothing like air conditioning. It was on such a day, some 80 years ago (probably earlier) when it had rained some in the area (grow-up years were in Sulphur Springs). It was then, as I walked through a big puddle, a big toe hit a big rock and it was ... well, can you remember ever hitting a big toe on a rock and wearing a big toe bandage for several days?

"Huh?" you say. Yep, all the kids in the neighborhood went barefoot most of the summer and then it was back to shoes on the feet for the first day of school. What else did the old gray matter dig up? It was always on the hottest and driest days when nights arrived and often a big cloud would form in the northwest of town, lightning would flash, and there would be a rumble of thunder, and then ... just within a few minutes, it would all disappear. At bedtime the curtains of open windows sometimes would rustle by appreciated breezes and, of course, every time a car passed, it would stir up a cloud of dust from dirt streets. Yep, those were the good old days, weren't they?

The gray matter continued to worry about the number of drops that were on the windshield when I wrote a 'cuff about them, and judges in Texas gave me a first-place for the column (probably because Texas had had quite a dry spell too). Although we have been having lots of heat and little rain in our part of the world, there have been quite a few hot, dry summers here that have been hotter and drier, even up to eighty years ago.

Isn't it funny that a few drops on the windshield would bring memories of other times? Has this 'cuff tugged at your memory to remember hot, dry spells and to appreciate air conditioners and such today? Have you ever worn a bandage on a big toe? Do you remember your first watermelon? All happy thoughts. And do today's parents, grands and others realize that what is happening today will be their children's "good old days"; and it's time to help them along to good memories, isn't it?

Gosh, I hope I can find the number of raindrops on that windshield some time ago. There I go again! Until next time ...

Dodie Evans is the former owner and longtime editor of the Gravette News Herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.