My turn: Small town directions reference past

When those of us who have lived here for decades give directions, we speak our own little language.

We might tell someone to meet us at a convenience store, followed with "where the old skating rink used to be ... not where the lumber yard was."

When we're describing some place on The Square, we don't use east and west. We use The Gals, Turner's and Gerry's Gift Box as our points of reference.

I was a teenager working in the Hallmark store. I was a young girl excited to finally be old enough to own a dress from Ruby's. We went to the drive-in theater when I was a child. And that building, you know the one, will always be Tastee Freeze to me.

The town is ever-changing, yet the town stays the same. The buildings get a face lift, and new signs take the place of old. And the people who shopped in those stores, swept those porches, stood at the dressing rooms helping us find the right size, put shoes on our feet — then gave them the old "thumb to the big toe test"... those people live on in our hearts.

I've taken a long pause here to close my eyes and picture Portales when I was a girl. I invite you to do the same.

Sandy keeps an online journal at her website http://www.field-days.com. E-mail her at [email protected].