I guess every town in America has one. Heck, maybe even every town in the world. You know what I'm talking about. The cruising loop. The place every teenager goes to see, and be seen by, anyone that counts. 
Even Wakenda, Missouri with its population of 150 people had one. Of course, with its 5 streets that ran north and south and another 5 that ran east and west, (if you were generous with what qualified as a street) it was a little harder to define it as cruising the loop.
Cruising Wakenda was more suited for using one's feet or a bicycle than a car. Fortunately, since walking didn't cost more money than what I had in my pockets, for me that was never a problem. 
Wakenda, Missouri in the late 1960's and early 70's was a pretty small town with not too many places where one could "hang out". We had the drive that circled the elementary school, Womack's Garage, the grain elevators, and the alley behind the pig lot was just about the extent of it. 
But sometime, when one of my older brothers felt generous, I was invited to ride along to the big-time cruising in Carrollton. Where we drove the loop past the Dog-N-Suds, over the railroad pass, around the roller rink, up to the park, around the square and down the hill to Bruce's Burger Bar. Pretty much, the same thing, except now, I had to help pay for gas.

cavemen on dinos
from tar pit to volcano
cruisin' on Friday night

even in a crowd one can still find solitude—silence is overrated

My children got me a subscription to a service called Storyworth. It sends me a weekly prompt, usually something about my childhood, to help get those creative juices flowing. Of course, the end result will hopefully be to produce a kind of diary that might leave some small insight into who I was back in the day.

One of those prompts read, “when you were a child, did you have to share a bedroom and possibly a bed with your siblings?”

Wait a doggone second guys. Do you mean to tell me that sleeping alone when you were a child is a real thing? Man, when I was growing up back in Wakenda, I recall the biggest house we ever lived in had four bedrooms. I know that a four-bedroom house might sound like a mansion but when you throw in the fact that there were more kids than you could count without using your toes, plus mom and dad, that sure didn’t leave much space.

Heck, even after I joined the Army, depending on where I was stationed, I had to share a bedroom with 4 to 12 other people. Then I got married and spent each night of my life sharing a bed.

After all those years, I’m not sure I could sleep a whole night without the sound of snoring and an occasional fart drifting out from under the covers.