I’m still being held prisoner by the heat. Even the dog makes short trips outside. Today is far less humid than it was, but it is still hot. Tonight, movie night, is supposed to be much cooler. We have a doozie tonight. Each summer we watch a movie so bad it’s funny. Last year it was The Thing with Two Heads. Tonight’s is a spoof of 50’s B movies called The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Two of the characters have the best names: Kro-Bar and Lattis. They are from the planet Marva and are now stranded on Earth in need of the element atmosphereum to repair their powerless spaceship. A human hybrid made from four animals is one of my favorite characters. It’s name is Animala, of course it is. Ranger Brad in his wide brim Ranger hat is another great character. I’ll not tell you any more so as not to spoil it but I’m warning you that a sense of the absurd is a necessity. If you love good movies, this isn’t the one to watch.
I loved the dinner scenes in all the family shows I watched as a kid. Every night the whole family sat around the table. The mother always took her apron off before she sat down. Mostly the family ate some sort of a roast, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Sliced bread was always on the table. The Cleavers ate in the dining room. The Andersons ate in the kitchen. I don’t remember where the Nelsons or the Stones ate. Mostly I remember Ozzie standing in the living room talking in that hesitant way of his with Harriet or the boys. The well-bred Cleaver boys always asked permission to leave the table. I thought that was funny. I couldn’t imagine needing permission to leave the table. In our house it was eat and go.
I never compared my family to TV families. I knew those families weren’t real. Seldom did siblings fight or call each other names. Nobody ever yelled. Not one kid stomped up the stairs in anger. Fathers reasoned with their children about bad behavior. No one was ever grounded. Wally asked Ward for advice, and he listened. Ward was wise. All fathers were wise.
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