Rant #3,645: Amen

It was another great day outside yesterday, once again feeling more like April than February.

It is going to be another warm day today, but I believe that we will see some rain today.

Better rain than snow!

And yesterday, my son and I went to yet another organization that is supposed to help him in his job quest.

The Nassau County office never did much for him, but now we are in Suffolk County, so it remains to be seen if it is the "same old, same old" or something completely different.

The nice weather has brought my memory back to when I was a kid growing up in Rochale Village, Queens.

When the weather warmed up, my friends and I played stick ball, punch ball, and so many other street games that we were never bored for long.

There was always something to do once the weather warmed up, and those days are some of the fondest memiries of my childhood.

I also remember one of the weirdest weather days from those times.

It had to be 1966 or so, so I was nine years old.

School was in session, and I used to walk to school at the then-new P S. 30 with my friend.

This particular morning, we left our building and immediately saw this long-ago memory unfold right in front of us.

We walked into a fog like I have never seen before or since.

It was as thick as pea soup, and you literally could not see very far in front of you.

We were probably a bit scared, but as we were walking toward the school, we heard a group of kids singing.

They were three or four black kids singing the Impressions' "Amen," a gospel-flavored rhythm and blues/pop hit of the time.

You knew they were singing because they were as scared as we were, and the singing got louder as we got closer to them, and could finally see them through the heavy fog.

It made my friend and I even more scared as we trudged toward school, doing it by memory because we could not see two feet in front of us.

I don't remember anything else about that day. We evidently got to the school, and the fog probably cleared by the time we finished the school day and walked home--

But it is one of the indelible memories of my childhood, one that I will never forget and always think about when I hear the song "Amen."

The recent weather hasn't been anything near the weather from that one morning, and I have no idea whst caused those pea soup conditions.

But the recent days have been nice, among the multitude of nice weather days i have experienced in my nesrly 68 years of life.

They kind of all fade into one, but that day 60 years ago stood out like a sore thumb, and it will never blend into any other day--

It is a day I will never forget, a memory I can laugh at now, but it was more scary and bewildering than anything way back when.

But I experienced it, the memory stays with me, and to that, I can say only one word--

"AMEN."

(P.S.: Doing some research on this day, it might have actually occurred right before Thanksgiving, on November 23, 1966.

A great haze of smog enveloped New York City for a few days just prior to that year's holiday.

The smog was the severest ever seen over New York City and parts of the Metropolitan area, and it was so severe that it caused numerous deaths to those with respiratory problems.

So I was not hallucinating, it did happen, but it was smog, not fog.

But to us kids, it was just fog--like pea soup.

And again--

"AMEN.")