THOSE WERE THE DAYS
I had a dream the other night that transported me back to grade school. It was such a pleasant dream that I didn’t want to wake up. I had such a wonderful childhood, lots of neighbor kids to hang out with, summer adventures that were so memorable. Once school was out for summer, our fun began. We lived close to the school so we spent a lot of time there even in the summer. Walking the tall wooden fences surrounding the baseball field, sitting up on the scoreboard eating our sack lunches, playing on the outside gym equipment, using the four square markers to play a series of games.
We lived at the end of a dead end street with a huge prune orchard on one side and another orchard of huge oak trees on the other side. It was every kid’s dream. We climbed 100 foot oak trees, built forts, skated, rode bikes, played tetherball, hopscotch, Chinese jump rope, jacks and swing the statue. The evenings were spent playing tag on the front lawn or playing ditch em with all the neighbors. There was never a lack of things to do.
We would go to little league games and buy jawbreakers, taffy and gum. There were so many popular gum flavors at that time; Black jack licorice flavored gum, Beemans pepsin flavored gum, Juicy Fruit, Fruit Stripe, Clove and Teaberry. We would collect gum wrappers all summer and then sit for hours carefully folding the wrappers into little links for the long chains we would make. We would have teams and race to see who could make the longest chain in a limited amount of time. We held timed races to see which team could put together 1000 piece puzzles in the shortest amount of time. There was always something to do and friends to do things with.
When we weren’t being active, our time was spent at the library in the summer reading program where we were also competing with the neighbors to see who could read the most books over the summer. As a result, all of us were avid readers and enjoyed the many adventures we would read about. It was competitive for sure, but a healthy competitive spirit amongst all of us.
Over in the oak tree orchard there was a huge dirt hill where we spent hours riding our bikes and racing down the hill into a grove of mustard plants. These mustard plants were often shoulder height so the field also served as a great place for hide and seek. Sometimes hours would go by before we ever found anyone because we would lay down and fall asleep waiting for the others to discover us.
It was every child’s dream to play there and year after year, we enjoyed our own private playground. I look at the differences in the youth of today and feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful, free and adventurous childhood. Our parents rarely knew where we were and during those times, no one worried whether their children would be abducted or harmed. As long as we were home for dinner, no one thought twice about it and even after dinner, as long as we were home before the street lights were on, we were good to go.
I feel sad for the kids of today because they have no idea on what they have missed out on, having to be sheltered from perpetrators out of fear, some having both parents working and often having to take care of themselves after school and even in the summer because there is no one home for them. The kids of today use electronic devices to entertain themselves instead of enjoying the outdoor adventures and fresh air that we were so blessed to have available to us.
I am so grateful for all my wonderful, happy memories and for all the experiences I had as a child and I will never forget them. When they say history repeats itself, I can only pray that it does and that kids will get back to the good ol’ days of outside fun and adventure.
