My 1970’s

I graduated high school in 1979. I look back and the 70’s was a blast to grow up in. We didn’t know about politics and all the grown up stuff. We just knew how to have fun. We weren’t afraid of things back then either. We weren’t afraid to walk up and down our road with our friends, day or night, or through fields to buy candy from a mom & pop store. We walked everywhere or rode bikes. A lot of the neighborhood boys had dirt bikes and would ride on trails under the power lines all day long during the summer. Of which, I should mention…the summers would last forever in the 70’s. Juss sayin’. Out in May and back after Labor Day. I tell my kids I want to put them in the car and drive them back to the 70’s. I would if I could.

The style of clothing was pretty cool. I loved midriffs, my tube tops with bib overalls, Chucks, Levi’s, and my bell bottom jeans. The bells were so big I’d have to put a rubber band around the bottom so my pants would not get caught in the chain when I rode my bike. We’d hand embroider words on the backside of our jeans too. Since we have a crumblet (like my new word?), a crumblet amount of Kickapoo in our blood, I once embroidered Kickapoo Power on my back pocket. Pretty.darn.cool………back then.

I’ve noticed that the boys today sport the 70’s look with their longer hair. I certainly don’t mind it. I actually like it. Just brings back memories of the good ‘ole days.

Some of my best memories are of the car rides on our family vacations. We certainly did not fly anywhere. That wasn’t even a thought back then. We didn’t have phones or DVDS to entertain us on long rides. We had each other. We swapped Archie comic books and sang to the songs on the radio. Ra-di-o. Not stereo. And we ate snacks.

With eating in the car, we’d end up playing “Who Ate the Fluff?” (I just now made up the name, and it wasn’t really a game. It was a race, of sorts.) If you smelled something a little racey in the car (which usually originated from the area of the driver’s seat), you’d hurry to put your thumb on your forehead. The last one to do so, ate it. And the last one was usually my brother who would end up sobbing, “I don’t wanna to eat it!” We laugh about that now. Well, we did then too, but now my brother laughs with us.

Sometime along the way, we would stop to eat a wonderful lunch that Mom prepared. Usually cold fried chicken, grapes, potato salad, chips, and cheese. You get the idea. The food always seemed to taste better out of a cooler and on the road. But…more food meant more fluffs later in the car. My dear brother. Side note: the word fart was considered a swear word by my mom. She replaced it with fluff. Gotta love her.

It was great to be on road trips with my family. Lots of fun. Of course, my sister would get upset if our legs touched in the car and she’d start yelling at me but we laugh about that now too.

The music in the 70’s was the absolute best too. I mean…the best. Who can really give me a good argument when it comes to musicians like:
The Eagles
America
Fleetwood Mac
David Bowie
Led Zeppelin
Paul McCartney and Wings
Billy Preston
Pink Floyd
Genesis
Bruce Springsteen
Queen
Beatles
The Who
Al Green
Rolling Stones
AC/DC
Jethro Tull
Jimi Hendricks
Carly Simon
ABBA
The Isley Brothers
John Denver
Bee Gees
Chicago
Rush
Deep Purple
Rod Stewart
Elton John
Dianna Ross
Carole King

I’m just getting started, but okay, I’ll stop. Just know I’m leaving out many great artists.

The 70’s was just the best time to grow up in. That’s my opinion because I lived through it. While most memories are great, truth be told, I was a little naughty on occasion. No…nothing compared to today’s definition of naughty. But naughty, none-the-less.

You know, like sneaking out of my bedroom window at night to hang out with the neighborhood kids. Getting stuck once wasn’t too cool. Or, lady-like. Trying pot along with a little Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill or Old Style beer (🤢). That’s really the extent of my naughtiness. Well…truth be told again, not really. After we moved 3 hours away, I found new friends who partied a lot. I tried to fit in where I could, you know? That was my teenage mentality at the time. During one night of partying, I did throw up on the side of a house. I mean on the house. And not my house. Wasn’t one of my most glorious moments. That night I earned a new nickname. Al. Short for “alcoholic”. The nickname stuck with me even though I don’t believe I ever drank that much in high school again.

But I have many good memories with family and friends during that decade. No phones, video games, absolutely nothing to distract us from each other. Then I got married in 1980 and had to grow up. And I’ve been reluctantly growing up ever since.

The decades have come and gone and the 70’s seem like light years away. That is…until I hear Hotel California, Ventura Highway, You’re So Vain, Will It Go Round In Circles, or any other song from that decade, and I find myself walking down Bonnie Brook Lane with my sister and a few of our neighborhood friends.

♥️

Andi