ROAMING RICHARDS

     I remember the night of a large summer storm that came through when I was seven. Tornadoes aren't uncommon where I'm from so getting to our safe spot was merely routine. I woke up, exhausted from losing a few hours of precious sleep, and noticed our backyard was completely flooded. Apparently it's because our neighbor's pipes run straight into our yard... At the time, I had no clue what it meant, it was just another puddle for me to play in while the Texas heat blared. The lake flooded causing a lot of wildlife to either die or be forced out of their original dwellings. I did notice a bunch of mosquitos biting me when my brother and I were playing soccer the next day… It started getting more humid outside so shade was an important factor in our summer play. My brother and I went to the park, kicked the ball for a few minutes, then sat under the big jungle-gym while we and I drank our warmed waters. The problem about our park is that it didn't have many trees for shade so we used what we had but in Texas, it's hard to beat the heat. One positive factor that came out of the storm was how green everything seemed to be. Our trees and grass didn’t look like they were struggling to survive, they were so full of life! Since the droughts, I hadn't seen Waco like this in years. I was mesmerized by the new-found beauty in my little Texas city.