Football, Autumm Leaves and Cinders (standard:humor, 1013 words)
Author: Dennis Knight	Added: Sep 16 2000	Views/Reads: 5233/2598	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Memories of Laramie, Wyoming, about 1953, when I was ten years old. Evokes many sights, sounds, smells and nostalgia of an afternoon in a college town. Do you like sloppy joes?

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I saw U.P. on a railroad car....Ha, ha!  Hey...No slugging! 

Look down there at the roundhouse. See, it isn't really round. It's an
arc shaped building, with a turntable in the center. Let's stop here a 
minute. I think they're about to run an engine out of the shops. What 
an amazing thing, railroad turntables. Boy! If I ever get to work on 
the railroad, I hope they give me the turntable job. 

The West side. This is the working man's part of town. Houses on the
East side have brick and stucco. The houses in our part of town are apt 
to be covered with tar paper. It's the melting pot of Laramie, but this 
is where we live, and this is where we learn to get along with a lot of 
different people. Maybe some day we'll move across the tracks into a 
house that's actually big enough for our family, but, gosh, I hope not 
too soon. 

Can you smell the piles of cottonwood leaves? After last week's snow
melted, they're getting kind of dank smelling underneath, but on top 
they're fresh, crisp and just right for wrasslin'. 

A few more blocks South on Cedar, and we'll cut over to Spruce Street
(wonder if they'll ever pave it?) and then down to our place. Does your 
dad work on the railroad?  My dad's "out" on his turn today, but I 
think he'll get in this afternoon. He'll want me to help rake the yard. 
Maybe we can walk down to the river before he gets home. It's right 
behind the house, but all you can see from the yard is willow bushes. 

Mom'll have some stuff for us to eat first. Do you like sloppy joe’s? 


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