The other day I was looking out the front window of our house and I began watching the little kids across the street play in their yard. They were all boys and ranged in age from three to five. What caught my attention is that they were all dressed in superhero costumes. There, in my neighborhood, were Batman, Spiderman, and Superman! Holy Costumed Caped Crusaders Batman!
When I was around the same age as those tiny templars we dressed up as superhero's too. In our minds we were Batman and Robin, Captain America, The Green Lantern, and other Gotham Greats. On the outside though we didn't have the shiny costumes like those boys were wearing.
There were no places to get fancy crusader costumes in the 1960's...but in order to be a superhero you, at least, have to have a cape - and my mom saw to it that we all had capes. She went into the house and, after serveral minutes, emerged with dish towels and safety pins in hand. Yes, in our imaginations, we were the Avengers of Evil, but on the outside our capes said things like "Home Sweet Home" and "God Bless Our House" and hell...my friend, Kent, wore a towel that had some goose with a scarf and bonnet on it. To the world we looked like boys with ten-cent Murphy's Department Store dish towels pinned onto our shirts, but to us...well, we were the genuine article...authentic made-in-Cumberland superhero's.
That's the great thing about being a kid...you are only restrained by how far and how big your imagination will let you dream. Somewhere along the way we forget that as adults. But on that day in my neighborhood those little guys reminded me of how much fun it used to be when I dared to dream that I could do anything.
Well, if you'll excuse me now, I think we have some dish towels in the hallway closet.
Be Well.
Bill
