What we did 50 years ago on hot August days

About this time 50 years ago I would make my way from my house to Betty Burford’s house walking barefoot on the hot asphalt streets and dodging stickers in the field I crossed to get to her house. (Sure, I had shoes, but I might take them off and leave them wherever I went. Betty’s house was where all the kids gathered. Betty’s mother had the best snacks, the best toys and Betty had the best imagination of what we could do. Betty Burford was the smartest friend I had. And Betty’s house was air conditioned.

A hot August day usually brought out the worst in us. We played horrible pranks on our friends like the time we gave Rebecca a glass of water from the toilet. And she drank it. Like the time we called Melissa and told her to walk to my house because we were all over at Betty’s right across the street from Melissa. And she walked it. Melissa got so mad at us because she said she almost had a ‘heatstroke.’ A heatstroke? What is that?

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