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!
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