Springtime and Hoodlumism

By Mad Sweeney

Well, springtime is here and like the return of the weeds in my yard, the neighborhood "do nothings" have come out of hibernation and are out roaming. With this comes the onslaught of people causing problems, loud stereo's, loitering, trash, and just general stupid activity. I'm not talking kids either. Kids don't bother me. Grown adults that do nothing but sleep during the day, and roam around at night, can't be up to anything productive, and that bothers me. Not to mention everytime one passes in front of the house, my guard dogs go nutty.

As a boy growing up in a small (now huge) suburb of Ft. Worth, we lived in a culdesac that was relatively quiet. Each day after school we would do the things kids did back then, but under the watchful guidance of the neighborhood "evil eye." Also known as my father. As annoying as it was, I can now see why he was doing it, because I have become an "evil eye" myself and spend time watching from behind curtains. Over Christmas, the tree in our front room was perfect to capture any out of season hoodlumism that was occuring within sight, but that had to come down obviously and I had to fall back and practice my ninja skills without cover. More to follow....