Turtle Power

The eighties were the heyday of cartoon shows that were essentially half-hour commercials for toys. Matt grew up in a generational onslaught of He-man and Masters of the Universe, Transformers, Star Wars and GI Joe toys. But his favorite cartoon was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One of the most absurd premises for a series, TMNT were a superhero foursome created by radioactive slime, trained by a wise Ninja master sewer rat and bearing the names of Rennaissance painters--Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. But the show was funny! It was regular Saturday morning TV fare at our house. Another favorite was Garfield.

This photo was taken in the back yard of our first house in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It was infested with cockroaches and crickets, but the rent was cheap. Our next house was infested with ants and slugs--yes, large slugs used to come out at night and leave shiny trails on the carpeting.