Boyhood Summer

Part of each boyhood summer was spent dumpster-diving for empty refundable pop bottles.  These things were as good as gold!  My friends and I would cruise the neighborhood on our bikes.  I had a Schwin Sting Ray with a basket on front, perfect for carrying those empty bottles.  Once we figured we had enough, we'd head over to the local market.  The clerk would count our bottles and fork-over the cash.  What a great system!  Then, we'd step out the door and formulate a plan; What could we get with all this moolah?  Invariably, our shopping list contained candy, soda pop, and comic books.  Our purchases were planned right down to the last penny, right down to the last piece of Bazooka gum.

I can still see us peddling back home on a hot summer day taking swigs of soda or a slurp of a popsicle.  Back home, in our hideout, we would finish reaping the rewards of our labor by polishing-off the candy and sodas, and we would pass the comics out to share.  These were the days of boyhood dreams....