Two Double Oh Four

I have been spending a whole lotta time in dreamland lately. I can remember being a kid and hearing grown up people talking about the good ol' days and wondering what all the hype was about. What good ol' days?

Well, I am not old, but I have been thinking a lot about the good ol' days. We went to Galveston this past Sunday to take the kids to Mardi Gras. It was a ton of fun. The sun was bright, the sky was cloudless and I was in the car with my family, but my mind was back in a different time and place.

When we were young, I would often find myself in the car driving every back road on the way to the beach. Curvey winding roads past Yellowjacket market, through Danbury, through Santa Fe (slow down), past chemical plants, over bayous and ALWAYS ending up at the beach. We'd go to Galveston and Surfside. We'd drive our car right on the beach. It was daytime. It was nighttime. Wide open sky, wide open beach. Always there. Always always always there.

There were no worries on those beach days. We'd leave our spot on the beach and drive over to 7-11 for some Doritos and a Coke-Cola. That'd be lunch. Sometimes, planned trips to the beach, we have a little sand with our sandwich. Nothing like the taste of sand, mayo, ham and some super fresh Sunbeam bread. Now that is good stuff.

I can hear the waves. I can smell the ocean water. I can feel the warm sun shining down on my body. I can hear my young self solving the world's problems with my bff and the B-52's blaring in the background. I can picture the beach towel I was laying on when we picked the name of my life long across the street neighbor's baby. She was 18, single and pregnant and that sweet baby is now 19 years old. I can remember the stars in the wide open sky on prom night and the taste of cold cheap champagne. I can remember my mom pouring warm water from old milk jugs down my legs to get the sand off before I got in the car. I can remember riding horses down the beach on our honeymoon and feeling like I was on top of the world. I can remember Spring Break with the Manvel Girls and the sounds of all of the people. There are so many times that I will be going about some normal part of my day and I am hit with a memory. Out of the clear blue sky, I will be taken back to that place. Back to that innocence.

I want to go to the beach. I want to get in the car and go to the beach. I want JC to drive fast. I want to recline the passenger seat with my feet hanging out of the window. I want the music to be blaring and the kids to be cramming Doritos in their mouths. I want to roll in the sand. I want to lay on a towel with my face towards the sun. Eyes closed, listening to the sounds that the beach bring.

And maybe, if I am lucky, we will drive down 2004 on our way.