Twenty-four.

24

Down the street from my parents house was a sand pit created 

by nature. It was a naturally shaped baseball field created by the 

coming together of two great dunes. Contractors took advantage 

of this by building houses along the edges of the pit. We took 

advantage of it by naming it after the man who owned the property 

we had to cross to get to it. Kids can be cruel. Someone thought 

he looked like a toad when he chased us one day as we brazenly

marched across his backyard in the middle of the Saturday summer 

sunlight. I have to admit it was a close comparison. He was kinda 

heavyset. Had a ruddy pockmarked face. Even his voice seemed 

to crock one boy said. It might have been me. To this day when I 

meet guys who I grew up with and I mention “Toad Stadium” they 

know what I mean. How could you forget a kid image like that. No 

one seems to remember who said it though. Kids are like that too.

14October2020

Markle~