Chilly, overcast skies in St. Louis

For the past couple of days, it's been rather chilly here on the South Side. And this after a spell of very warm weather just last week. We actually had our air-conditioner on last week and tonight the heat is on. It must be spring in St. Louis. For some reason walking to the alley to take the trash out is a memory-provoking experience for me. It always has been. It's a job my mother gave to me at a very early age, so memories of actual trash-taking-out are included in with miscellaneous reflections of my life. These overcast skies and chilly spring air for some reason reminded me of mornings on camping trips when I was growing up. For a time, Dad, Mom three sisters and I would pack up and camp for a week every summer. It was always with at least one other family, usually the Bighams. Kim (John) Bigham and his wife Carol and their two girls and one boy were fixtures in my early life. My dad and Kim were best friends from childhood. There was rarely a Friday night when our two families weren't together. So each and every summer we would all go down to the Huzzah Wildlife Area off the Courtois River to camp. These memories I have are the smell of the air early in the morning as I walked to and from the campsite. I don't know what I might have been doing, possibly walking to the out-house; maybe taking the trash "out." I still see Kim and Carol Bigham every Sunday morning at Church. They're my God-parents too. (A short, cute story: When they heard that I had lost my job a few years back they sent me $25.00 in the mail.) Sometimes we'd go with other families; the Tanners or the Hemmerlas. Then, like now, my family's social life was centered on Kingshighway Methodist Church. Whether I'm taking out the trash or just walking to the car, every morning I thank God for giving the gift of life. He didn't have to do it, He just wanted to.