Our old green 1954 Ford Tudor sedan sat squat in the driveway. My parents bought it new from a west coast bootleg dealer before I was born. Most Saturdays when I was young, my mother and older sister dressed up to drive downtown in the Triumph and browse department store racks. They ate lunch in the restaurant on the third floor of the Bon Marche, and returned with shopping bags flaunting tissue paper. Dad loaded my younger brother and me into the old green Ford, a shotgun or a rifle, and we drove out of town. Dad joked: Henry VIII was a Tudor; Joan of Arc was a wonder. Barney always came along, our fox-red Labrador, even if, sometimes, he rode in the trunk.
Saturdays I learned to scramble along reeds and brambles bordering the river, pry out gray stones impressed in the bank to plunk into the current, how to keep moving when the viscous mud fronting the lake sucked to the ankles of my black rubber boots. I studied how to ease through these places, to watch and be still, when to wait, like any wild thing. I learned to trust what the dog told me.
–Excerpt from “Birds the Color of Water”
Happy Father’s Day Dad.
Kim K. McCrea 
Oh, the Bon Marché! That brings back memories. My mother and I always went to Month End sales at Northgate, but I don’t think, even downtown, that we ever lunched at the Bon.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Lookin’ good there with that piece! Love it. Props and beams to you and yours, Kim!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for checking in, best to you on Father’s Day~
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Kim, I always enjoy reading what you have to say. I’ve nominated you. Check it out. https://markjohnsonstories.com/2019/06/24/pride-and-recognition/
LikeLike
Hey, Mark, thank you!
LikeLike
Ours was an old green 1958 Oldsmobile parked at the curb near the Eugene library. My parents bought it used, just after I was born.
Most Saturdays when I was young, my mother took me to Sears. Their revolving credit plan kept her spinning so she paid cash when she treated me to fifty cents of warm mixed nuts. My favorites were cashews.
I still trust what the dog tells me.
Where can I find the full text of ‘Birds the Color of Water’?
LikeLike
Cashews are the best. Stay tuned, someday I’ll find a publisher for the full manuscript
LikeLiked by 1 person
This reader’ll be ready to read. Thanks Kim.
LikeLiked by 1 person