It’s finally May, meaning summer is almost here…I hope! Looking back to summers of the past, I remember doing some pretty wild and wooly things as a kid growing up in Tustin, which is in the O.C. between us and the Pacific Coast.
When young teens, we were a bicycle brigade, who rode around the neighborhood, through the orange groves and everywhere, including down to the beach along Irvine Boulevard which at the time was a two-lane country road.
Or we’d make our own skateboards, from scrap wood and metal-wheeled skates, and zoom around up and down the sidewalks, only creating danger for our teeth and those walking.
We also used to have “fun” orange fights in the orange groves, using the fruit on the ground. Did you know oranges when they hit you go “swish-thud” and the juice makes you sticky? Me and my neighbor buddies would use a bare eucalyptus branch to poke a hole in an orange and then sling it, kinda like throwing a baseball toward each other (more like jai alai but using sticks for the baskets).
One time I slung one that was loaded with a firecracker and it exploded as it was passing my best friend Jimmy Utt. Probably not my smartest move.
Utt, by the way, was the grandson of Orange County Congressman James B. Utt, so we didn’t dare tell Grandpa about that ‘cause he didn’t have the sense of humor of pre-teen boys, who thought it was hilarious.
Anyway, we’d toss those oranges so often, we ran out of downed fruit…until Jimmy’s parents had to pay Mr. Olson, the orange grove owner, who was ticked off with so many oranges missing from his trees (hey, we claimed they were already on the ground), but we never did that again!
By the way, we used to call Jimmy “Utt the Butt.” He was a little annoyed at first, but it became an endearing term, and he
got over it. Utt today is a respected retired teacher and author.
Not allowed to fight “the war of the oranges” anymore, we moved on to our next delinquent activity. Boys had a way back then of creating fun out of nothing (and sometimes mischief) in those days before video games.
Those were the days my friends, we’d thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day, We’d live the life we choose, we’d fight and never lose, for we were young and sure to have our way. (Mary Hopkin, 1969)
One of my favorite summer memories was visiting the Mill Creek Boys Ranch in the summer. We would make our own arrows for the archery range and shoot BB guns on their shooting range. They had horseback riding and we’d hike through the forest, learning about pinecones which, by the way, are not swishy like oranges. Then we’d go down to Big Bear Lake to fish and swim and play in the amazing pinball arcade. I enjoy these memories of summers past.
Those were the days my friends, we’d thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day, We’d live the life we choose, we’d fight and never lose, those were the days, oh yes, those were the days!”
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
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