The Last Summer Before High School

My next door neighbor/best friend was a couple of years older then me. When I was in the 8th grade she was already in high school. A few months before the school year ended that year she met this new guy at her high school (the one I would be attending the next year). He had just moved to town and lived up the street from us. He had a MAD crush on her, so he was hanging out with us quite a bit. He was a stoner hippie dude, and I thought he was the coolest guy EVER. He and I instantly became close, and developed a very brother/sister friendship.

When school ended that year my best friend moved away. The cool stoner guy though was stil my bud, and still my neighbor. His best friends and I became inseparable. We spent that summer hanging out in our neighborhood, swimming (he had a pool) and just being teenagers. All we listened to that summer was Houses Of The Holy. To me it became the absolute most important piece of music ever composed. We would all disect this album front to back all the time. It was a great summer.

As the school year inched closer & closer I began hanging out with more & more of stoner guys' friends. By the time school started, they were also my friends. This group of guys, through the course of my teenage years became some of the closest friends and greatest people ever to have touched my life. Some I've lost touch with, while some I still see & talk to from time to time.

I hope they know how much their friendship meant to me. I was terrified of starting high school, and they took me in and guided me through what would be some of the rougher waters I'd see in my life. Whenever I hear any song off of this album I think of that summer, and the friendships that began while listening to Houses Of The Holy.