Hiding

One summer day when I was about five or six. I was staying with my grandparents Opal and Revis. It was a hot day, I remember the rivulets of sweat running down my face. As a kid, I remember it being hot, but we did not have air conditioning like we have today, we had swamp coolers if we had anything at all. They were basically large noisy fans that had a pan of water underneath and surrounded by pads that were constantly drenched with water. In fact, they only added to the humidity in your house. They did offer a cool blast of air to stand in front of on hot August afternoons. On this day, my cousins from Olney, Texas arrived. It was always a big production when the family arrived at Grand Dad's house. There were the loud exclamations of welcome, hugs, kisses, back slapping and the like. Then everyone would be ushered into the house out of the heat or cold (I never remember it being moderate, just hot or cold) and into the parlor where Mam Maw would serve homemade sugar cookies and Coke a Cola, or Breakfast if it were early in the day. Today it was after lunch, and I was in a shy mood and did not really know my cousins, (they were the girl cousins, eh). So I just went and hid. It was not uncommon for me to wander the farm, so nobody really knew where I was anyway. They called out a bit and rang the bell, but I was safely dug in under the huge bed in MawMaw's house. It was actually the coolest place to hang out anyway, The old bed was on an old concrete slab that was covered with tile. I remember. napping there in the cool dark watching the daddy long legs cluster in the cool spot under the bed frame. After a couple of hours, I hear the goodbye's start. This is when the hugging and kissing and back slapping started all over again. Nobody ever left Opal and Revis's house without a sack of fresh vegetables or peaches or whatever was in season at the time. I finally made my appearance just as the car was driving off, much to my Dad's dismay. I didn't worry though, it was 3:00 Coke time!