slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

By Jack Miller; Smithton, MO...from Reminisce Magazine

During my childhood, many country roads around my hometown of Sedalia, Missouri, were made of dirt. I can still feel it between my toes, ground to a soft, fine powder by traffic. I can close my eyes and see myself and my friends walking barefoot in our loose-fitting big overalls, no shirts or shoes. A stick fishing pole is over my shoulder, and a small cloud of dust puffs up at each footfall. We are on our way to some fishing hole that will require us to walk several miles into the country on both tar and dirt, dreaming of hooking a big fish (something that seldom happened). There are trees and bushes along the road, some with gooseberries as big as my thumb or other wild fruit, which is why we didn't carry any food...but you can bet one of us had a saltshaker in his pocket.

When you drive these roads now, the trees and bushes that fed us have been cut or sprayed out of existence. Thank heavens I have my memories of those old dusty roads that were hard on drivers but great for barefoot little boys.