School was out and the summer had begun when my mom told me that the trailer company was going to start preparing the lot for the arrival of the two trailer sections that make our double wide trailer home. I asked if we could go watch them put the trailer sections together. My mom said, “Yes.” She also said that we would be going back and forth for several days.
When we arrived at our lot the two trailer sections were already lined up on the street. There was a man walking the lot checking to see that everything was ready for the set up. There was a truck loaded with concrete blocks and other stuff that was needed to put the trailer sections together.
I watched the trailer crew carefully to learn about how double wide trailers were put together. It was fascinating. The first trailer section was carefully maneuvered into position and set it into place on concrete blocks. Then the other half was moved into place and aligned with the first half.
Once the sections were in place and closely aligned, the two halves were slowly pulled together. When they were together, and the other section was aligned with the first section, they would start bolting the two halves together.
Hydraulic jacks were used to elevate the section halves to the prescribed floor elevation above the concrete pad that the trailer was set on. I didn’t know about hydraulic jacks, so I studied one in action.
The installation crew also let me inside while they were bolting the two trailer sections together. I observed everything with excitement. I watched the narrow sliver of sunlight beaming into the void of our future living room slowly disappear as the two halves finally joined together.
A man called an electrician was working on the electrical panel. There were wires sticking out of the panel that needed to be connected to the panel. His job was making sure that there were no wires missing from the connection plan he was looking at.
Another man called a plumber made all the final connections of the piping. He mostly worked under the trailer halves that were now connected. He checked the water going to the kitchen, all the bathrooms, and the laundry. And he checked that the toilets flushed correctly.
And there were two men working on our air conditioning system.
This was an operation that I noticed was well orchestrated. Everyone had a job to do.
Our new home would be ready for us to move into after three days of setting up but it still needed the furniture.
Once the trailer sections were assembled, the trailer company began installing the trailer skirt, the front entry awning structure which ran the entire length of the trailer and the front entry stairs. There were also rear stairs to the kitchen door being installed as well.
My mom had bought a full package of trailer amenities.
After all the various trailer setup installations were completed, another group of workers came to begin receiving and setting up our new furniture.
While all of trailer setup activity was going on, I met two boys who were watching our trailer being set up too. They lived down the street and were outside playing and decided to come and watch our new trailer being put together.
They came over with their mom to greet us. One of the boys was my age and his brother was a year younger. My mom and I learned that they were Jewish. I felt an immediate bond to them since my friend from Beverley Hills was Jewish too. And we did hit it off quickly. I knew that I wouldn’t be alone in this new place.
After we moved into our new home, the two brothers and I would go to the community center pool to swim and tan. Besides the pool, the trailer park had a large community center with pool tables, Ping-Pong tables, and hangout spaces for adults and kids. I no longer had to go to the public pool that was always crowded in the summer.
This was becoming a fun summer for me.
As the new school year approached and my birthday week arrived, the brothers asked me if I wanted to go bowling with them. It sounded interesting. I had never been bowling. I thought we were going to go by car, nope. We walked through the desert to the Showboat Bowling Lanes.
This is where my friend from junior high and I would ride our bikes to go to on Saturday afternoons to hang out and get a soda. Yes, the same friend that I had punched in the face. I hoped he would be there since I hadn’t seen him during the summer, especially after moving from our now old house.
I didn’t see him.
The brothers helped me get shoes and a ball to bowl with. And then we went to the lane assigned to us and started our game. I wasn’t that good, but I tried.
They both gave me pointers to help me. With their help I improved and was happy that I wasn’t getting creamed by them. They were both pretty good bowlers.
After our games they told me that they bowled in a Saturday morning youth bowling league. Then they asked me if I wanted to join the league. I thought for a few moments and replied, “Yes.”
We then went back home, walking through the hot desert and played some board games for the rest of the day. My mom and their mom had been hanging out to get to know each other. They were becoming friends.
I was now looking forward to school starting and joining the bowling league.
But first, it was time for my birthday. My mom planned a little gathering with her new friend and her boys. Nothing too big except for it being a BBQ in our new backyard. And I oversaw all the grilling activities.
So, with our new friends and some other new neighbors that they knew in attendance, the party began. We were making hot dogs and hamburgers, chips and dip, and some other goodies.
For the burgers I cooked a creation that I had been working on for some time. My own recipe. It was a big double meat patties burger with melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese between the two meat patties that were sealed into the burger build. The cheese melted inside while the burgers were cooked. Sometimes the cheeses would start to ooze out when the burgers were almost fully cooked. The meat was seasoned with traditional Italian seasonings.
I called my creation “The Italian Burger”.
Everyone loved the burgers because they were not dry and the cheese stretched out with every bite.
It had been so many years without a birthday party that I enjoyed my day with extra delight. I finally had a party, and nothing could take this day away. Nope, not this time.
Also, I was happy that my mom and I were starting over in a way. I now felt good about where I am headed. And I just knew that this school year would be the year that I excelled.
Plus, I had two new friends that were Jewish. For some reason this was important to me. I felt like my shortened year in Phoenix was now continuing. That was generally a good year for me. It was my year of discovery.
Definitely…
“Follow my website for new story vignettes”
Leave a Reply