Everyone Considered Him the Coward of the County...

Driving home tonight, I heard a song that brought memories rushing back. The song was released in November of 1979. That means I was 5 years old when I first heard it...and I still memorized EVERY word. The song is Coward of the County by Kenny Rogers. The story told in the song was not one I understood when I was 5, and the subject matter is probably not something parents of 5 year olds today would allow their children to hear...but those were different times.

My memories of this song are quite vivid, but not drawn out. I specifically remember my brother and me riding around with our Aunt Jean and our cousins, and this song playing on the car radio. I remember everyone singing it...even my brother, who was then only 4. I'm not sure why this sticks with me still...32 years later. Whatever the reason, this song brings back other memories of us staying with my aunt and cousins.

Our aunt had 4 kids...3 girls and a boy. All of them were older than us and we thought they were the coolest. Here are some memories I have of them:

We all would go to our Grandma's every Sunday and they'd take us (and all our other cousins) to the store at the end of the road for ice cream. There might be 10 of us in the car at any given time. Back then, you didn't have to wear seatbelts...heck, the smaller kids stood up in the front seat next to the driver while we made the trip.

Sometimes in the summer, they'd take us to the Dan River and we'd all raft from Pine Hall all the way to Power Dam Road in Walnut Cove. I'm sure it was a sight...20 or so young kids floating between the banks. Snakes, rocks, and rough water...but we weren't afraid of anything then...except maybe a rain storm.

When we didn't go rafting, we went fishing. The older cousins watched out for us, but I remember fishing in a water hole where the water came straight out of a pipe. We stood knee-deep in the water, mud between our toes, and hoped a catfish didn't swim too close. I'm not sure we ever caught anything, but that was some serious fun! Nowadays, people would be too concerned about the germs in the water or whatever creatures lived in there. Back then we didn't care...we only wanted to be cool like our cousins.

Some Saturday nights we'd all go to the dirt track (311 Speedway) and watch the races. The races were the place to be on a Stokes County Saturday night. I guess now racing is not so hip, but I can just remember how excited we'd be when we were on our way.

Things have certainly changed since then. We were so much braver and willing to try anything when we were younger. Our cousins made us that way!

They Always Make Me Laugh...

I must be the most boring person I know. I mean, who else watches the same movies over and over? Occasionally there is a new one, but my stockpile of DVDs is a well-worn collection of comedies I can't get enough of. I love them all, and at least attempt to watch all of them on an equal basis (I don't want to play favorites. Why these movies caught my attention, I'm not quite sure, but each of them have some sort of "moment" when I fell in love with them and HAD to have them in my collection. Here are some of my faves and the reason I still watch...

Friday
Well, HELLO! What's not to love? OK, so it probably sends and unsavory message to younger children, but I am an adult and I know right from wrong. What I love about this movie are the priceless quotes, which I use quite frequently. Maybe not the most popular "You got knocked the..." - well, you know. It's other, less-noticed quotes like:

• "Make it enough."
• "Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions."
• "Ya'll ain't never got two things that match."

I could go on...but there are other movies to discuss.

Couple's Retreat
I watch this one when I want to laugh out loud. Every time Shane says "BOOM!" or "Bang!Bang!" and if I ever meet someone named Stanley I assure you I will ask "Is that with a C?" My favorite, though, is probably the yoga guy...that whole scene is...well, just hilarious. The first time I watched this movie, I was with my husband, brother and sister-in-law. We rented it one PPV and laughed so hard, we watched it again back to back. It just represents a good time to me.

First Wives Club
This is one I could watch back to back 24/7. I love every character in it. I love the songs in it. I love the story. I even went so far as to read the book (in this case the movie is MUCH better). My favorite part of this one is when Goldie Hawn is in the bar talking about Monique's Mother (but mistakenly say "Unique's mother" because she's sloshed. I watched this one night when me, my husband, and our niece were snowed in. It was on Cinemax, so we piled up on the couch and watched it...then we turned to the other Cinemax channel and watched it again. Good times.

Elf 
How the Grinch Stole Christmas used to be my all time favorite Christmas movie...but it's changed in the last several years. Elf plays almost every night in December in my house. Everyone I know loves this movie, and there are so many reasons. I didn't see this one until they were playing it on TV...maybe on ABC Family when they do the 25 days of Christmas. Whenever it was, it surpassed all the sappy Lifetime Christmas movies and I wear that DVD out every year. Shame on me...but there have been times when I've put it in during the middle of the summer...just because I can.

These are some of my staples...think I'll go watch one now!