Back in the day, when the neighborhood kids and I were between adolescence and adulthood, there was this really warm Good Friday in Northbrook, Illinois. It was so mild that we decided to sleep out in one of our backyards to celebrate the event. We set up a huge canvas tent and laid out all our gear in the musty enclosure. At dusk, we set out to wander the neighborhood in search of adventure.
At the time, lighting things on fire was big. We were experimenting with cigarette lighter fluid and its affects while lit on the bottoms of our shoes. We happened to be doing this on a neighbors patio and did not realize at the time our actions might be misunderstood. They were.
With the warm spring breezes blowing and the spring peeper frogs singing, we continued to roam the nearby neighborhoods. Our expedition was soon interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing. The kid whose house we were sleeping out at recognized this sound immediately. It was the bell that was rang to call him back home. This was rather odd as this bell hadn't been sounded in years as we were evolving toward adulthood.
When we arrived back at the tent, we were informed by one of the kids mom's that the police had been there and that the tent had been searched. They had uncovered flammable substances and taken them as evidence. She had given the police all of our names and we were to go down to the station the following day to be interrogated.
What the heck? Well, remember the neighbor's patio? They thought some kids were trying to burn down their house, so they called the police.
Some of us did go to the police station the next day and had to explain what we were up to. The police had tried to ignite the substances they found to no avail. It was gun powder from rocket launching cartridges, but we did not bother to explain that to them.
One of the kids was unable to attend our little gathering at the police station and I thought I was doing them a favor by filling in his record. I mentioned the kids middle name and they thanked me for my attention to detail.
The police gave us a warning and let us go. We had avoided doing time that Easter weekend. We were young and reckless and had no clue as to how other people perceived our actions. This behavior eventually subsided and we all grew up, sort of.
By the way officer, his middle name is "Gilbert".
