When I was a kid, my dad called all of his children “punkins,” generally, but when he was in a particularly goofy mood, we morphed, each in turn, into “Chief Wampum Big Elastic Pants.”

I just said it out loud, without even remembering that I remembered it. Or without knowing what in the heck it means.

Mom said she kept having the weird feeling that Dad’s ghost was hanging around in her car. Maybe I’ll ask her to ask him.