The Cracked Acorn: Memories

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” – 1 Peter 5: 8

Long before politicians paved the county roads, I was in grade school, on the Kentucky farm, walking the mile across the fields to catch the school bus, rain or shine. I eventually had several years under my belt and I talked my father into a visit to the Western Auto hardware store that sold bicycles. My father soon saw that the price for a new one was too much, fortunately, a used one was there taken in on a new one. I didn’t care new or old if it rolled, I wanted it. It may have been $30 dollars. Now the way to the school bus was at least a mile and a half but easily conquered on my bicycle. Father told me to chain it to the utility pole at the bus stop and never be out on the road, and I did.

When the school bus left me at the end of the day, I was on my bicycle and down the county gravel road, there was a small hill with a steep grade where I would get off and push the bicycle to the top and off down the farm road to the house. It happened that one of these afternoons, I was off, pushing the bicycle and a car came along on the other side and stopped. The driver was eager to engage me in talking about what was my day at school and so forth, and kept mentioning that I was probably in a rush to get home and have a sausage biscuit and he talked on, returning to the sausage biscuit.

I was getting leery of the vocal routine, so I jumped on the bicycle and willed all my might to spin back on the gravel and up the hill, never looking back and never, later, mentioning this event to my parents. Kids do that for fear that this could lead to tightening liberties. Thereafter, when I was off the bus, I pumped as hard and fast to spin up the hill and a left onto the home farm road; in later years, the school bus route changed and then stopped at the farm road . by that time I had moved to a used motor scooter. I never forgot why the man kept talking about the sausage biscuit, my parents and I never ate between meals, no sausage biscuits, obliviously this motorist was not well acquainted with farm life.

The wheel of time spins rapidly to Herndon, I am now married; a wife and son, a nice home, and a new VW bus. It’s the end of the school day, I am grilling steaks outside. I look up and a small school girl with her backpack is coming down the driveway. Her words, ” I think someone is following me!” She had seen the Red sign inside the window that we are a “safe” place for children. “Go inside, my wife and son are watching TV, give me a few minutes and we will take you home.”

Have times changed, “Maybe, but play it safe!”