"Playing" Church at the Family Reunion
I'm seeing twenty-odd young cousins, ranging from toddlers to teens. A large, extended, musically-gifted preacher family all converging on Uncle Doyle and Aunt Helen's central home from Indiana, Texas, California, or wherever we'd scattered. We're talking road trip here. Air conditioning was all the windows rolled down blowing hot air on your face till your eyes dried up, creating a permanent squint. That is, except for the window Mom needed rolled UP to hold the diaper over the glass to shade the cranky baby so she could sleep (on her lap - there were no car seats). From the Willamette Valley, we'd drive to Prineville to spend the night with Uncle Paul's family, then get up before the sun to head for Utah - in one day! When we arrived, all we wanted to do was lay on the cool grass, and of course, eat, and eat, and eat, and play with our cousins. Hot summers in Utah in a small house with few beds, small rooms, one kitchen, and ONE BATHROOM. The spill-over arriv