Neighborhood fun

When I was a kid, we lived in Miami.  It isn't my favorite place.  We lived through the days of the Bay of Pigs, the missiles that were aimed at Miami, the onslaught of Cuban refugees,the whole shebang! 
We lived in a good neighborhood that ended in a cul-de-sac.  Almost every family had school aged kids around our age group, some younger and some older.  We would be out all day long, every day when school was out, and during school time, it was rush in to do the homework and chores and then rush back out. 
One family lived across the street from us and became our family's closest friends.  My parents started out playing games with them, and gradually, the became curious about Dad's ministry, and before long, they had come to know the Lord, and were faithful members of our church.
Their 2 girls were just stairstep younger than me, and my big sister was 2 years older than me.  We were pretty much always hanging out, carpooled to school, etc.  We would hold prayer meetings sitting in a big ficus tree, which was our favorite hangout!  We also did a circus, a talent show, and every other kind of thing kids do.

In Florida, they have a type of cherry that grows on bushes.  They are a deep reddish orange, and they don't taste anything like a tree cherry.  We loved them, but one day, when a whole gang of us were hanging out, someone got the idea that throwing those cherries at each other would be fun.  It really was!  We stripped every bush on our end of the block during the battle royal we fought.  When the firing stopped, we all looked at each other, and I think it hit us all about the same time that we were in super big trouble.  We, along with our clothes, were stained from head to toe.  Even our hair was full of the mess!  Those were the days when very few people had dryers and stain removers, as such, didn't exist, and people were careful with what they had...things weren't so easily disposable to people as they are now!  We knew that when we got home we were going to have to face some irate parents!

My sister and I slipped into the house and changed clothes.  We put our dirty ones in the laundry basket out by the washer.  When Mama came in, for some reason she went straight to the garage to get a load of clothes going.  She looked down and found our clothes, that looked like they were blood-covered, and she let out a shriek!  I really do believe she was scared!  When she found out what we had done, we were in the doghouse for sure!  I don't remember what punishment we got, but I do remember feeling very bad because our mom had been so scared. 
The next day, I looked like I had been through 3 world wars!  I have always bruised very easily, and the pits inside those cherries were hard!  Being one of the younger ones, I received a lot of direct hits!  You can just imagine!
Needless to say, we never did have cherry fights again (well...at least none in our good clothes), though there were some papaya and guava fights! 
I must admit...I wonder if my parents went in their room and laughed hysterically over the dumb stuff that we did!  I know that we have done that many times, when our kids pulled stunts!  I'd ask, but think it unwise!!  They may be in their 80's, but I bet they could still swing a mean switch! 
Below is a picture of the cherries...if you are ever in south Florida, try some!  They really are good!  Surinam /Pitanga Cherry