Watch Out For Defective Balloons!

When I was growing up, my dad used to take my brother, Al, and me out in the country to do some target practice with a 22 caliber rifle. We thought it was great fun to set up some bottles and cans and shoot at them. I will never forget one such outing. I was eight years old and Al was seven. My dad drove up South Fork canyon past the picnic grounds onto a dirt road that went up into the foothills. We called it a "wilderness road." There was a wide place off the road, just right for parking the car. As we got out of the car, Al and I noticed that there were a lot of cream colored balloons lying around on the ground. A closer examination revealed that the balloons had no "neck" so no wonder they were on the ground, we reasoned. They were defective balloons. We asked Dad about it and he hurriedly distracted us with setting up the cans for targets. That wasn't Dad's style. He was an educator by profession so he usually answered our questions in a wise and thorough manner. While Dad and I were busy putting cans on rocks, Al ran back over to the balloons and put one to his lips to see if he could blow it up. My dad saw him and got a horrified look on his face. "Put that thing down and do not pick up any more!" That's all he said about it - ever.

Years later, as a teenager, I made sense of the whole scenario. Secluded country road - a lover's lane. Defective no-neck balloons littering the ground - used condoms. Eeeewwww! There's a lot of colorful stories that can be told about my brother Al and his antics, but no one speaks of this one, but me......and I don't dare bring it up with my brother or my dad.