Baby Powder and Vaseline

This is a picture of me standing near a tree in the front of our house. At the time, we lived in a little town called LaMonte, Missouri. My dad was stationed at Whiteman AFB.

The expression on my face stems from the fact that I was unaccustomed to 1. that much clothing, and 2. shoes. My parents took all these photos of me because it was such an event getting me properly outfitted for the weather. They usually got me this wrapped up and then I'd tell them I needed to go the bathroom and they'd have to start all over again. Lamonte was the house we moved to after Guam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam where if people told you that an event was formal, it meant you wore shoes. I hate shoes to this day.

Later, in the summer of that year, I would have a gleeful day of destruction with my best friend, Brenda. She lived across the street. We decided to pull pranks all day.

First we tampered with my dad's slop jug. This was a cold glass bottle he kept filled with water in the door of the fridge. While he was working outside, he'd come in the house and tilt back the slop jug for a drink. That day, we the jug, coated the bottom of it with vaseline, and refilled it.

Missing a sense of immediate prank gratification, we decided to play. So we poured a full container of baby powder out on the hardwood floors in my bedroom to make a skating rink. With bare feet, it was possible to skate if we kept "re-icing" the floor. After we'd had fun with this, we were covered in powder, so we went to the bathroom to wash off. Somehow we ended up taking off all our clothes while in the bathroom. Quickly we arrived at our next idea. We thought it would be fun to race outside and flash the neighbors. Naked, we ran outside, but quickly lost our nerve as cars began to ride by, so we hid behind this tree for what seemed like an eternity, until we could get back inside without being seen.

I think that was the same day we played gas station with my dad's car and filled his tank with the garden hose, but I can't remember. It seems like a lot of trouble for one day, but we might have done it all at once.

The gas station day, whether that day or another, did not end well for any of the children suspected of participating. But no adult knows for sure who actually pulled the prank. And I still won't name names.