the happiest place on earth

we spent a long day cleaning out clutter today.  two sheds worth of bric a brac.  i felt the number of my years.  then there is the afterward.  b. and i took our kids, nick and j., to the happiest place on earth in sac: the drive-in movies.  sac 6 drive-in theaters upgraded a couple of years ago to digital projection.  the grounds are kept neat.  the operation is well-organized.  such a change in a few short years.  b. and i have made a visit to the drive-ins a yearly ritual before our kids were born.  10 years ago the theater was a dump.  i don't mean metaphorically i mean the place was a dump.  garbage strewn hither and yawn.  bathrooms unspeakable.  food, well, you took your tummy into your own hands with the snack bar.  today is such a sea-change.  there was a dude dressed as the easter bunny handing out candy to the kids.  the play areas have been refurbished and are safer for the kids to play on.  the snack bar is a'plenty with snack-bar like edibles like popcorn, candy, pizza and burgers with scores lined up eager to gobble these delectables up.  on the tarmac outside the snack bar are booths of goods being sold by private vendors of such variety one wonders who these items for sale might be for.  at the drive-ins is a whole carnival of life.  it is the happiest place on earth.  and the movie?  you don't go to the drive-ins just for the movie.  you go to drink it all in.  the all of it.  the whole enchilada.  the all of life.