HUBER PARK

Summers in the High Plains of Texas is an extreme pleasure.  It's not just that the rest of the year, a cold wind blows incessantly and frequent snow sweeps across the plains, but it's because the summer days are not too hot and the evenings are cool. The night sky, filled with billions of bright stars, is a sight to behold, unlike any other night in the world.

When my maternal grandparents would travel to our house from Webb City, Oklahoma, they would come with one of my aunts and two uncles, who were all close to my age.  We'd always plan a picnic at Huber Park with a great uncle and aunt, along with their three sons, who weren't much older and lived in our small town.  The unincorporated town of Phillips, with a population of 3000, was a community built around Phillips Petroleum Company. Our social lives revolved around school activities and the two local churches. The town of Phillips no longer exists due to plant explosions in the mid-'80s with the subsequent removal of all the houses.

We did most of our shopping three miles away in Borger, which still exists today and has a population of about 13,000. And like many small towns, it, unfortunately, drove out many of the local businesses. Even now, I enjoy small, locally-owned businesses.  When I was growing up, there was no Walmart, but there has been one for 30 years.

Some of the finest people you'll ever meet are from that neck of the woods, although since it's semi-arid at 3000 feet above sea level, there aren't many kinds of wood. In fact, if you stand on top of any structure, you can see for miles across the open, flat plains. I only appreciated its unique beauty once I was much older and had covered millions of miles.

I was born with wanderlust and left the Panhandle nearly 50 years ago. It's funny how you have a lot more time to savor the early years after the career ends and the dust settles.  What I thought I was leaving never left me.  And I'm happy about that. Growing up in a small town propelled me to want something bigger and better. For many years, I took for granted the fundamental values that were instilled in me. Values like honesty and trustworthiness have served me well throughout my life. The hometown friendships that began many years ago are still with me today. You can't search and find any of that because it's where you thought you left it long ago.

Everything was bigger in Borger in comparison to Phillips, including the park. We'd spend the morning frying chicken, making potato salad and deviled eggs, baking beans, and making pies. We'd usually get to the park before noon. All the younger children would run around the playground, while the older children, mostly boys, would play baseball or football. Sometimes, they'd allow me to play games with them. I loved playing with my brothers, uncles, aunts, and cousins!

The boys would take turns churning the ice cream maker and making sure the ice and rock salt surrounding the container stayed full. We'd usually have vanilla ice cream, but often, mouth-watering-just-picked-from-a-tree peaches would be added. I've never tasted such perfectly scrumptious ice cream since that time.

I wish someone had told me then that those days would be fleeting and that many of the people I loved would one day be gone. I would have held on tighter to those who have passed, knowing now that it wouldn't make them stay longer. I may have memorized more of those moments that are trickling back to me now after many decades. But, the memory of that bowl of homemade ice cream in Huber Park, churned by many of those who are now gone, leaves a sweet taste in my mouth and an even more precious memory to hold onto.