The month of May makes me remember springtime in the 60’s, high school cheerleading days. This blog post is dedicated to cheerleaders and their coaches. You should be sorry you didn’t pick me! Actually, I never even tried out in high school in the sixties. I was not ergonomically designed to be a bouncy cheerleader; perhaps if there were a team for professional seat sitters, I might have qualified.
Anyway, let’s fast forward to springtime in about 1977. A grown woman with two children now, I had the house (no more apartment 33B!); the magnolia tree in the front yard (can you believe?) and its zillions of fallen magnolia petals on our lawn (my lawn? me?) and our walkway (uh oh…slippery when wet…possible lawsuit?)
Add my son, who was three at the time, and now let’s add a bunch of his able-bodied contemporaries. I gave each of them a brown bag, and I guess you know where I am going with this story. “Ready! Set! Go!” I cheered. I jumped! I clapped! I might have even done a few cartwheels. My team of three year olds scampered and gathered, scampered and gathered, and emerged… VICTORIOUS! Their bags were full of magnolia petals, and my lawn and walkway were petal free!
So, if you read this, and you were a cheerleader, I hope you realize that my not being on your team was…your loss! Nah nah nah nah nah nah!
I’m sure I awarded my victorious team of petal baggers with something—probably ice cream. We were just on the cusp of the healthy snack movement in those days of the late 1970’s.
But those days were long ago. Now, my magnolia tree still stands on my front lawn and its petals still fall. I took this picture of it yesterday. I sweep the petals off the walkway so no one will fall if it rains. The petals on the lawn will decompose with time.
The Nothing Expert 
Such a lovely and sweet remembrance.
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I wonder where those cheer leaders are now?
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Sounds like you may have pulled the old ‘Tom Sawyer’ on a bunch of poor unsuspecting three year old’s. 🙂 But at any rate, at least you finally had your moment in the sun. Looks like it is really beautiful there in the neighborhood when all those trees are blooming.
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Tom Sawyer was one of my idols. I loved his life style! I read and reread the chapter about the fence as well as the one where he and Huck stocked up their provisions, built their raft, hid out in the woods, built a campfire, and fried up their bacon and freshly caught fish.
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Oh god, I used to do the same with my kids and their friends when they were too young to understand they were doing work. At the end of the cleanup awaiting them were candy or cookies and they were thrilled and the winner got an extra cookie, and I was excited to have been able to sit in a chair and watch all those busy little workers do my clean-up. Those were the days….
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Great (but devious) minds think alike!
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Grandchildren…you need grandchildren to do that task now.
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