A woman is not supposed to give clues to her age, but I have not reached the point where it bothers me to publicly admit I am nearing the half-century mark. I am guilty, though, of beginning to say things to my college-aged son such as, ‘That’s not how we did things when I was your age’, ‘Kids today have no respect for anyone’, ‘Just wait until you have kids of your own’, and ‘Some day you’ll be in your forties, too, bub!’

Apparently it’s also a required rite of passage for anyone growing older (which is everyone, by-the-way) to compare how things are going presently to how things were during their childhood and young adulthood. There is no stopping it—it must be a part of human genetic makeup.

For example, I still fondly remember calm and lazy Sunday afternoons, when everyone was home doing things together. Everything was closed on Sundays, including grocery stores and gas stations. What if you needed something? You waited till Monday. It really wasn’t so bad. People survived. Really.

The other night I had something happen that had me pining for the ‘old days’. I was watching one of my favorite gritty cop shows, one whose new season began in April, when it was announced there are just two shows to go for the season finale. For one brief moment, I thought I had gone to Stephen King’s ‘Dead Zone’, and had been comatose for an extended period of time, and somehow missed months of programming. But, no, that is not the case. I have just gotten settled in with the characters and many plot lines, and now it’s time to say goodbye till the next ‘season’. What happened to nine months of programming, followed by reruns during the summer? I like that system a whole lot better.

I have not been watching NASCAR for that long, but I know of some things that make me sound like something of an old-timer. How about watching victorious drivers jumping on the roofs of their cars in Victory Lane? It seems like a million years since we have been able to enjoy that, doesn’t it?

How about TNN being the broadcaster of NASCAR races? Some folks reading this might not even know what TNN stands for (The Nashville Network, for those who don’t). I remember their commitment to televising the races, even if it meant eight or ten hours during a rain delay. I remember Ralph Sheheen as one of their reporters. Patti Wheeler was a bigwig for that gig (you should recognize the last name, as that is Humpy Wheeler’s daughter).

A rarity when I began watching NASCAR was the pairing of Darrell Waltrip with his brother Michael, either in interviews or articles about them. I was watching for a few months before I realized the connection. That seems inconceivable now, with big brother Darrell in the broadcast booth referring regularly to Michael in one way or another, and them appearing in commercials together. Where was the love back then, I wonder?

I recall having no Chase for the Championship, no guaranteed spots for the top 35 cars, Hans devices may have been around but few paid attention to them, and you couldn’t find a Lucky Dawg anywhere.

It seems I already have a mental heap of memories to sort through, enjoy, and share with others. However, while I may be able to cover a mental hillside, I know that there are plenty of folks reading this who have enough to cover a sizeable mountain range.

If you have the mind to, why don’t you share some of these racing memories with me, and the other cawsnjaws’ readers? I know I would enjoy sharing a ride on your memory train.