Lawn Party

As a boy I enjoyed sitting in the backyard after supper with my father and the two Herbs. Herb Fletcher lived next door and Herb Benner lived up the street. Herb Benner was a retired machinist and he would start in with one of his war stories from his glory days at the Watertown Arsenal. Herb Fletcher would add appropriate color commentary to the play by play. My father couldn't get a word in edgewise. I sat quietly and listened. The stories would go on and on into the night. Herb Benner's cigar glowing orange. It brightened when he'd take a puff. He'd bust an occasional fart but nobody seem to mind and the story never missed a beat. Those were great lawn parties. Hearing Herb's Heroic Tales of a mid-summer's night long past. I wish I could remember just one of them.