who do wolves dance with? me and kevin costner.

wolf t shirts. this isn't a fashion blog. the wolf shirt had me thinking though. i bought it from a thrift store because i liked how it looked and it fit ok. that's why i bought it and occasionally wear it. i don't know much about wolves. i know they seem ferocious to me. fierce. i like how they travel and live in packs. i love packs of wolves. wolfpac. New World Order (nWo). the wolf shirts kind of remind me of a neighborhood friend we grew up with. he had lots of t shirts with different kinds of jets and helicopters. they were black and had the graphic of the air vehicle with a one color design in the background, i'm remembering mostly purple and lighter green. i always thought they were pretty neat looking. we actually attended an air show with his family where we got to look at all kinds of planes, get inside some. i remember the blue angels flew overhead. it was loud enough to make your ears bleed. my ears survived. i liked going over to this kid's house to play. he had nintendo with good games. nick and him would usually play, i would watch or just play with toys. he had a lot of toys i liked to play with. none of that weak stuff. kind of obscure toys that no one else had, but i enjoyed them. his mom worked at the library so sometimes she would bring home books about sharks, or movies about bears. neat things like that. she would make us kool-aid. when i see the kool-aid man, i often think of their house. they often had prunes that i would eat and love. these days i doubt i'd do either. i remember their japanese beetle catchers. they had a fruity smell and were full of dead, crunchy, metallic looking bugs. i remember all the neighborhoods kids were on their deck eating lunch. i was excited to get outside and running quite fast, but i didn't realize the screen door was closed. i ran into it and bent it up pretty well. wanted to cry i think. i don't think i did. maybe. i think someone tried to reassure me that i didn't damage the screen door too bad by opening and closing it, but i remember not feeling any better because they had a difficult time completing the task. the task of making me feel like i didn't damage the screen door. i remember another time we went to a boat show with them. i wasn't wearing my seatbelt. the father pressed on the breaks at one point and the car came to an abrupt stop sending me flying to the floor of their minivan (with the fake wood panels), because i had my feet up on the seat. he looked back and somewhat chastised me for not wearing my seatbelt. he seemed angry. i told him, "i just wanted to see what it felt like not to," and then i told him he should learn how to become a better driver, and that the imitation wood paneling on his van looked silly, and that the last batch of prunes they bought were not good, and so on. i didn't really say any of that, sarcasm wasn't in my brain at that early of an age. i'm sure i was red. i know the awkwardness and embarrassment that i felt nearly brought me to tears. i held it in. the truth is he was a great guy, but my young, foolish pride didn't allow me to recognize that in the moment. that experience has made me the seatbelt wearer that i am today. seatbelts. not worn to save my body and brain in a car accident, only to save me from embarrassing situations. wolf t shirts.