Beltane Moon of the Summer Solstice
Took Ruth and Gabe to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Turns out I have a middle school aesthetic when it comes to certain sci fi flicks. We had a great time as Rocket Raccoon and Star Lord saved the Galaxy. Again. The best time though was afterward while we waited for Jon and Kate at Sushi Win in Evergreen.
Gabe looked at me, serious, “Do you remember your childhood?” I know, I thought. It was soooo long ago. Might have slipped away by now. “Yes. I do.” “Could you tell some stories?” OMG. The quintessential old man of the mountain moment. Speak to me of times long past.
So I told them both about the horse drawn wagon that delivered our milk. “We had insulated boxes on the front porch and the milkman would run up with a wire carrier that held the milk, cream, butter, whatever. While he delivered to the house next door, the horse would pull the cart in front our house so he could be more efficient in his work. Horses are smart; trucks aren’t.” Of course, this last statement may not stand much longer, but that’s what happens when time passes. The expression on their faces was priceless.
What else, Grandpop?
“Well, there were about 25 kids my age on my block and we played together almost every night, especially in the summer. We’d play kick the can, hide and seek.”
Ruth asked, “What’s kick the can? Is it like soccer?”
“No, more like hide and seek. You have two teams, one hides and the other guards the can. Then you run around and try to kick the can if you’re on the team that hides.”
“Oh,” she said, “That sounds like fun.”
And it was. “We also threw rocks up in the air and watched the bats follow them down.”
As I went to bed last night, I thought about other stuff. The hill. The field. Collecting pop bottles in a wagon and taking them downtown to Cox’s Supermarket for refunds. Yes, I remember my childhood.
Fireflys
Fudgecicles (my favorite)
Bomb shelters as a great and exciting idea. I had the perfect place located in the backyard, but my parents seemed indifferent to the threat which was made so real to us kids.
Twice-a-day mail delivery
Walking with my dog to the lake, only about a half mile away, and fishing for sunfish and crappies.
It was okay to be very mediocre in any kind of sport within the neighborhood… until we got a little older when the scarlet letter of shame stood for “Athletic imbecile”
Sputnick! We were going into space now. And when we grow up we can do it too!!
New car models every year! Wow! Progress was everywhere!
There were no such things as family problems… because we never talked about them! Ah, bliss. Or maybe not.
Building stuff. All kinds of stuff. A go-kart made out of “scrap” lumber. It didn’t really “go” too well. So I added a sail ginned out of an old sheet (with permission, I think). Still didn’t go.
Neighborhood friends. Yup. Community, we might call it now. Boys AND girls. Youth and elders. Even though the age span was only a few years. When the very slightly older ones went off to high school it was as though they went to the real world while we were still on only an orbiting satellite.
Putting on plays and pageants without ANY adult prompting or supervision. We even did a couple to raise money for something or other.
4th of July parades thought up and executed entirely by us kids!
Yeah. Fireflies in mason jars with holes punched in the lid and grass stuck in for some reason. Food?
Your comment about the bomb shelter reminded me of a project I undertook one summer while Dad was gone somewhere. I decided to dig a cave in the backyard. As I recall, it was because I’d read that caves were always cool and our house didn’t have air conditioning. Anyhow I got pretty far along with the cave, digging out an a 10 foot or so by 8 feet hole in the ground (which I would never have done if I’d been told to), maybe three or four feet down. Then Dad came home. Oops. Fill that damn thing in. The depression is still in the backyard of 311 E. Monroe to this day.
On the new car models. Dad was the editor of a newspaper as you know. That meant that each year he would get ads for the new model year, well in advance. With pictures, of course. So I would go down to the paper and see the 1959 Ford. Chevy. Dodge. Cadillac. Buick. Felt very special.