Taco Friday in the Super Camper

When Da-da was a tot -- back when mastodons roamed freely and you could secure a complete meal for under $1 -- both his parents worked, so he was occasionally watched by a nice older lady Da-da will call Mrs. Wilson, a retired nurse who also took care of a bunch of other kids. Fridays were especially memorable as both Da-da's parents worked late at Myrna's Discount Crematorium and House-O-Donut Love (there were always more bodies at the end of the week and people clamoring for donuts, hence the later hours). Anyway, since Young Master Da-da was the only kid left past 4:00 pm on Fridays, he was granted the rare solo privilege of taco take-out in the Wilson family super camper -- because Friday was always taco night in the super camper.

Factually, EVERY NIGHT is taco night, as it should be, but Friday tacos are somehow made more special by the memory of either a Taco Tia or an El Taco parking lot (both founded by Glen Bell, who also founded Taco Bell), Da-da seated at that funky oval camper table, the door and windows open to that special, dry air of a Southern California dusk, which has a magical redolence Da-da can't describe (made all the more incredible by orange groves), the three of us chomping happily on yellow wax paper-wrapped ground beef gringo tacos (yes, this was way before those stupid styrofoam containers), each taco consisting of a crisp, hot yellow taco shell filled with the perfect balance of taco meat, crisp green lettuce, shredded cheddar and a slice of tomato, and a little drizzled hot sauce, the sublime gestalt offering itself up in those suburban polyester camper surroundings and MAN is Da-da hungry right now. And YES, like Da-da said, these were indeed GRINGO tacos, but you always want whatever they gave you as a kid, probably because things always taste better to a fresh palate, especially when someone else is paying.

Da-da is invariably scarred by this experience. SCARRED. The Wilsons not only burned an indelible memory, they placed a TACO MONKEY ON DA-DA'S BACK. The damn thing wakes up every Friday. That's it, to hell with you people, DA-DA NEEDS A TACO. Anyone got a camper Da-da can borrow?

Tacos are best inside a super camper, Da-da swears.