There Are Gypsies In My Dreams

Mr. Clar is a U.S.A. based entrepreneur who thrives on the internet. His basic belief is that all wisdom, creativity, and good flows from God.

In the early days of the twentieth century, it was fairly common in the United States to see roving bands of real live gypsies. They traveled in wagons pulled by horses and camped at night wherever they could.

These gypsies liked to camp in the orchard next to my mother's house. They traded horses, food, and other such items with my grandfather and, for a few days each year, brought excitement to this quiet area of deep southern Illinois. It's a rural place where slow drawls are still the order of the day and churches abound.

As the sun set, all the kids, my mother included, hid behind trees and bushes to watch the gypsies around their campfire. They stayed outside as long as they could. Finally their mother would make them come in for bed. Even then, they continued to peek out the windows long after the kerosene lamps inside the house were extinguished.

How those gypsies loved to dance! As the darkness of night settled in, the fiddle music got louder and louder and the women danced on and on and on.

On a hot, clear summer night in 1917, one beautiful young gypsy lady got so carried away that she moved into the middle of the rutted, dirt road.

There she stripped off her multi-colored dress and danced wildly in her undergarments. She danced and danced, her movements only fading away from my mother's view as the campfire flickered out. What an image! My mother, usually at my insistence, told me this story time and time again. As a child, I never tired of it. I still dream of that dancing gypsy woman and probably always will!

Please take the time to tell your children and grandchildren the fun stories from your youth. Thank you for letting me share one of my very best memories. It's funny, isn't it, what sticks in our minds?

Charlie Clar is a U.S.A. based entrepreneur who thrives on the internet. His basic belief is that all wisdom, creativity, and good flows from God. His professional expertise is in personal and business taxation. He shares his well researched insights on this and other topics in the The All About Life Irregular. You can subscribe to it at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/all-about-life

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