Most people from the north will tell you all about the winters. They are not just cold they are bitter cold. When you breathe your breath looks like the smoke from an old coal locomotive, and you never want to have a runny nose, it only leads to icicles hanging and glistening like diamond earrings. You wear so many layers of sweaters and jackets and mittens and socks and scarves that if you’re not careful you just might end up getting all the way home before you realize you have grabbed the wrong kid. There is a time for every season and a season for coming of age.
Summer…. ah the New York summer, that was my time of year.
The front porch roof!!
Every summer my older brothers would climb out their bedroom window and lay on the front porch roof. It was the best view for watching the stars and my brothers always bragged it up to their friends. And every year I would ask if I could go with them and they would tell me “NO WAY”
Early the summer of my 12th year my parents divorced and my brothers went to live with my father and my mom moved me into the coveted front bedroom overlooking the front porch roof.
I had finally earned the right of passage. Even if it was by default,
I moved my stuff in the room and that night as soon as I knew my mother was asleep I quietly opened my bedroom window and climbed out… I just stood there for a minute WOW it was all they said and more. I reached back in the window and grabbed my blanket and carefully spread it out on the rooftop and sat right in the middle. It was very humid and I could feel the moist night air on my skin, there was a slight breeze and I could hear the sounds of crickets, an owl and off in the distance an occasional car. Across the road a field of golden rod moved ever so slowly back and forth, like a rippling ocean of gold. I lay back on and gazed up at the night sky. It was even more beautiful than I thought it would be. The night sky was deep blue and the stars hung like a necklace around the moon. I just lay still and listened to the sounds of the night.
What is your coming of age story?
Summer…. ah the New York summer, that was my time of year.
The front porch roof!!
Every summer my older brothers would climb out their bedroom window and lay on the front porch roof. It was the best view for watching the stars and my brothers always bragged it up to their friends. And every year I would ask if I could go with them and they would tell me “NO WAY”
Early the summer of my 12th year my parents divorced and my brothers went to live with my father and my mom moved me into the coveted front bedroom overlooking the front porch roof.
I had finally earned the right of passage. Even if it was by default,
I moved my stuff in the room and that night as soon as I knew my mother was asleep I quietly opened my bedroom window and climbed out… I just stood there for a minute WOW it was all they said and more. I reached back in the window and grabbed my blanket and carefully spread it out on the rooftop and sat right in the middle. It was very humid and I could feel the moist night air on my skin, there was a slight breeze and I could hear the sounds of crickets, an owl and off in the distance an occasional car. Across the road a field of golden rod moved ever so slowly back and forth, like a rippling ocean of gold. I lay back on and gazed up at the night sky. It was even more beautiful than I thought it would be. The night sky was deep blue and the stars hung like a necklace around the moon. I just lay still and listened to the sounds of the night.
What is your coming of age story?
No comments:
Post a Comment