By the end of the second movie we would be hearing the trade mark "wooo-hooo!" shout from the next village where the van would often leave mommy. Then we would join our neighbours' children in a mad running stampede down the hill with our slippers going flap! flap! flap! We used to raise the dust off the pitch.
We all looked forward to mommy bringing home the groceries but especially the cake and sweet bread. Each of us would get a slice of coconut or red belly cake to feast on. But then there would always be the fish that needed cleaning. Nobody wanted to stand outside cleaning fish, taking off scales, removing gills and guts while being mercilessly bitten by sand flies or mosquitoes.
Later in the evening we would enjoy roasted breadfruit and stewed chicken back, a taste which I still can't get enough of to this day. Around dinnertime the whole family would gather to watch the WWF hour with the champoin stars Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant and a host of others. Wrestling was just enjoyable.
It was on a Saturday that my best friend in primary school introduced me to the classic TV series Knight Rider and The A-Team. I in turn introduced the shows to my family. Other happy family shows of the rural Satuday era incuded Street Hawk, Airwolf, Baretta and the animated series He-Man.
Those days may be long gone but certainly the memories and the happy effects of those times still put a smile on my face as I write this. I hope all of my readers do have their own happy memories of Saturdays past, even if they were not spent in a rural setting.
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