Caught

Like this fading fall leaf caught in the clutches of bark, have you ever been caught in a game of tag, perhaps been caught stealing or in the act of doing something embarrassing? I've done these all and a few more for good measure. I grew up in a neighborhood like Mayberry that Andy Griffith and even the Beaver would have been proud of. We had our Aunt Bees, Floyd the barber, Goober, Otis the drunk, a Barney Fife and even good ol' Andy. And heck, we were all Opies. The neighborhood was just chock full of kids with a pretty equal number of girls and boys, so after dusk a game of flashlight tag or kissing hide-and-go-seek had a lot more consequences, if you know what I mean. 'Borrowing' potatoes from Mr. Bustin's garden in the middle of the night, while sleeping out in our tents, was a summer ritual that never got old. Gawwd but raw, uncooked potatoes tasted awful! What were we thinking? And yes, were caught on more than one occasion. One time I was even dragged into Mr. B's kitchen by my shirt. Kinda scary! But it didn't stop me and the gang from raiding his apple trees in broad daylight the next day. Now, the embarrassing stuff will go unmentioned at this time. Suffice to say, I got myself trapped in a few cul-de-sacs in my early teen years. I did a lot of livin' by early teen standards and more importantly, I did a lot of learnin' too. I am where I am today, because I followed what might be construed as the old trial and error system. I might add there were lots of errors involved. I know just how this leaf feels... caught in the clutches.