Mom and me.

The smell of the plastic in the hot glare of the afternoon; the way it yielded to your little fist when it lost some air; the way grass clippings always got in the water.

Beyond the fence, the family that raised dogs and a rock band. Behind that, in the left-hand corner: the side of the SuperValu at the Northport Shopping Center. Less than half a block from the closest thing we had to a mall!