An Old Guy's Random Remembering #4

LET THEM EAT CAKE
8/2/05

THE SUMMER JOBS OF MY YOUTH SOMETIMES BLUR TOGETHER, SO THAT THE EXACT TIMELINE IS LOST, BUT I THINK IT WAS THE SUMMER OF 1953, BETWEEN MY JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEARS IN HIGH SCHOOL, WHEN I WORKED AS A CARPENTER'S HELPER ON A SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN THE HOME TOWN OF MY YOUTH, BAY CITY, TEXAS.

I USUALLY TOOK FIVE SANDWICHES AND A THERMOS OF ICED TEA FOR MY LUNCH, BUT THE HIGHLIGHT OF EVERY LUNCH WAS A “PO-BOY HONEY CAKE” THAT I PURCHASED FROM THE LITTLE STORE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE CONSTRUCTION SITE.

YESTERDAY, MY WIFE MENTIONED THAT SHE NEEDED A SHEET OF MASONITE. I REPLIED THAT WE HAD A SHEET, AT LEAST A PARTIAL ONE. TODAY SHE ASKED ME TO GET IT, AND LAY IT OUT ON THE TABLE ON THE TERRACE.

EVER SINCE THE SUMMER OF 1953, WHENEVER I ENCOUNTER THE SMELL OF HARDBOARD, I RECALL THOSE CAKES THAT I USED TO EAT WITH MY LUNCH.

I ALSO WONDER, WHENEVER I SMELL HARDBOARD, “HOW DO THEY MAKE THIS STUFF?”, AND “WHAT WAS I EATING WHENEVER I CONSUMED ONE OF THOSE TASTY HONEY CAKES?”.

I also wondered how I ever ate five sandwiches and a "Po Boy" honey cake every day during that summer, and still weighed only 155 pounds when I got married five years later.