This is an opinion column

We used to call ourselves City Mouse and Country Mouse, based loosely on the book of course, because she lived in Mobile and I lived on the outskirts of Thomasville in the great community of Sandflat. We also called ourselves best friends.

We would see one another at church, often spend the weekend together, and during the week we would mail one another letters just to keep updated. I have attributed those letters as a prelude to my ability to write. We got pretty good at expressing ourselves.

We would gently compete with one another to see who could make the most creative envelopes. We kept our mail carriers entertained. Never was one mailed from either of us that didn’t say L.Y.L.A.S. Which – as all women our age know – means love you like a sister. And we did. Neither of us had a sister, just an older brother, and I guess we filled that space in for one another.

Her parents, and their lifestyle, were very much an influence on me. There are portions of my life to this day that are patterned after their example. They were class acts and I will forever be grateful for how they always welcomed and included me.

One Christmas, we rode with her dad from Mobile to Sandflat. It wasn’t Christmas Day, but it was Christmas break for us and I had spent a few days at her house. He had a hunting trip planned with my dad, and she was going to spend an extra couple of days with me.

It was 1980. It was cold. So cold we were hoping for snow even in south Alabama. It was already dark before we were out of Mobile County. We watched the beams from the headlights hoping to see flakes.

We were excited. We had also convinced him to stop at a fireworks stand along the way and he had bought sparklers for us. We were big fans of sparklers. Later we would go outside and light them and dance.

The radio was on when we started the trip. I think maybe it was our singing along with the J. Geils Band to “Centerfold” that prompted him to find something more appropriate. He scratched around and found an eight-track to play.

They had a van. Not just a van, but a luxury conversion van. These were in their prime during the late 1970′s and early 80′s. They were fully carpeted and had real oak paneling. There was a table in the back big enough to comfortably host a four-man poker game. It had mood lighting and strategically placed speakers.

Neil Diamond had just released his Jazz Singer album featuring the song “America.” I had never heard of Neil Diamond, his story, or any of his songs. I remember tears stinging my eyes listening to the lyrics of “America.” His perspective made me more patriotic.

After the Jazz Singer tape, he played the entire live album of Diamond’s Hot August Nights concert. It had been recorded the year I was born – at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, August 24, 1972.

Hot August days lead to hot August nights and here in Alabama we have experienced both over these last few days. It is a strange thing though…how seldom do I walk out into a sultry late summer night that I do not, for at least a fleeting moment, find myself back in a van on Highway 43 traveling home to Sandflat in late December.

Amanda Walker is a columnist and contributor with AL.com, The Birmingham News, Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at [email protected] or at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.