Family picnics by the lake, complete with potato salad, ham sandwiches and Auntie Emily's famous dill pickles. And a huge watermelon cooling in the water under a tree on the shore. And Mother reminding us that if we didn't wait an hour after eating to go swimming, we would surely get cramps.
Or playing Scrabble or Sorry or Yahtzee after the supper dishes were done. And the Monopoly marathon with a cousin that lasted the whole weekend. And those of us who had mothers who insisted regular playing cards were of the Devil, played Rook and Authors and Old Maid and Uno instead.
There were lazy summer afternoons spent with actual paper books and we could get lost in them solving mysteries or going on wonderful adventures or, for the girls, sighing over romances or riding the range with Zane Gray, for the boys. Seems to me we knew the difference between boys and girls back then.
The hot Sunday afternoons spent sitting on the porch with friends or with visiting relatives, trying to catch a bit of a breeze. There was a pitcher of ice cold lemonade, made from real lemons and a plate piled high with gingersnaps.
There were summer days of riding our bikes as fast as we could go down 'Killer Hill,' trying to stop before hitting the railroad tracks and getting pitched off into the weeds. Or in the winter, riding that same hill on Flexible Flyer sleds - the wooden ones with the steel runners - trying to stop at the bottom for the same reason.
For us in the North, there were Saturdays watching our kid brother play hockey on an outdoor rink. And there were Sunday afternoons at the skating rink, pretending to be a world class skater, even though I never did get the hang of doing jumps or even skating backwards. But oh, it was fun to glide across the ice, stopping only when noses and toes became numb with the cold. The little warming house with the attendant keeping a fire going in a small pot bellied stove was welcome.
I realize that we can not live in the past, but sometimes when the headlines tell of riots and political stupidity and just plain meanness in our world, it is nice to revisit those long ago places and remember there was a time when our world was a place of kindness and respect for one another. Where life was not so hectic. Where the simple pleasures lived. I rather like it there.
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"Ah yes, I remember it well" (and the song it came from).
ReplyDeleteMaurice Chevalier. And now that song will be stuck in my head for a couple of days. :)
DeleteLOL
DeleteIt is said that "the past is a different country, and they do things differently there." That being said, there are times when it seems preferable to what goes on in the present.
ReplyDeleteI like that quote, Rev. Paul. It is true.
DeleteI find myself drifting down Memory Lane every now and then. Sometimes the reality becomes nearly overwhelming and it is nice to visit that other country for a little while.
We used to go outside and play badminton with the kids after dinner. Such good times.
ReplyDeleteKristina...My family had a badminton set as well and there were tournaments among the cousins when relatives would visit. Croquet was another game that was played often at my house.
DeleteRoller skates with 4 wheels each and tightened with a key. And going to the local elementary school with the neighbor kids and riding on the sidewalks there because they were so smooth. No adults present, and certainly no 'security'. When we got tired of skating, we'd play kick the can with someone's old coffee can. Everyone welcome.
ReplyDeleteOr, in the summer, we'd go hill-sliding. Take the biggest piece of cardboard you could find, climb to the top of the hill and ride down on the cardboard, The tall, dry grasses would provide a great ride.
No lake here, but BBQs and outdoor dinner at my great aunt and uncles with all my cousins, oh and the adults. Their property was big enough we could lose sight of the adults and vice versa.
Thanks for the chance to walk down memory land.
Cheers, SJ
SJ...Wasn't it wonderful to be a kid at a time when we could just go off with our friends and play without scheduled 'play dates' or parents needing to be present.
ReplyDeleteEvery kid on the block had a skate key hung around their necks on a piece of string and hours were spent skating up and down the sidewalk or even out in the middle of the street in our quiet neighborhood. We learned to do tricks and had races, but the clamp skates were tough on feet if we wore tennis shoes. :)
I had forgotten about sliding down hills on cardboard. The local grocery store had a big bin where the boxes left over from stocking the sheaves were thrown and we would pick out the biggest box we could find to use as a sled.
The sidewalks always had hopscotch grids drawn on them and we used our prettiest stones for markers. Or playing 'Jacks' with a small rubber ball and ten star shaped metal jacks. Or playing Hide and Seek in the dark of a summer evening.
Memory Lane - it is fun to visit.
I remember Jacks when they were metal..Did you play Sardines, a cousin to hide and seek. One person would hide and others would hide when they found that person until only one was left.
DeleteNo lakes for me but the beach also holds memories of picnics and sand in the food and pop and lots of cousins.
And, yes,no adult supervision. A typical Saturday had Mom telling me at breakfast to be home for dinner. My best friend and I put on miles on our bikes. I'm not sure my mom ever figured out how far afield we got.
SJ
Nope, on the Sardines. Never heard of it. We did play a game that involved throwing a ball over the house and running around to tag someone, but I don't remember the name of the game. I do remember the game being banned when someone (can't imagine who it was :)) chucked a ball through a window!
DeleteMy Saturdays were much like yours. Once our chores were done, we were free to do what we wanted. Just be home in time for supper. Thing is, I think kids then knew better how to take care of themselves than those today do. We knew where we could go and what we could do and still stay out of trouble. We knew who the crazy people were in town and we stayed away from them. I pity the kids who never learn anything because their parents hover over them all the time.
We were indestructible. We could walk on rock parking lots with impunity, play in the rain, catch turtles with our bare hands, climb trees, play along the railroad track, run through the backyards in the night to hunt fireflies, and do all of those things with a runny nose, sneezing, and a slight fever.
ReplyDeleteTimes have changed, but not people. People need the a safe home, friendly neighbors, low crime rates, and peaceful slumber. They are all still available, but such things require admonishing those that have ridiculous ideas, punishing those that break laws, rules that people are hesitant to break, and liberty from government entities.
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I think it's true. Too many want to change everything; never realizing the changes they make aren't necessarily good.
Agreed, Jess. We climbed trees to the very top and rode in the beds of pickups and hunted for frogs and crayfish in the creeks, all of which would be reported to Social Services these days.
DeleteI feel sorry for today's kids who are pretty much wrapped in bubble wrap. They don't learn first hand that if you crash your bike at the bottom of the hill by hitting the railroad tracks, and your knees become skinned up from the fall, maybe that wild ride down the hill isn't worth the pain. Or maybe it is. They aren't allowed to find out for themselves.
The good intentions of protecting children has gotten out of hand to the point where we have a generation of 'special little snowflakes.' How sad.
I too remember those days fondly. We could go anywhere in our neighborhood, as long as we got home before dark. Scrabble games with my folks after dinner dishes were done (no dishwasher). I see a little reminder of that time in the very small town I now live in. It brings back memories and makes me smile to see a couple of kids getting off their bikes at the store to go buy some candy, or even be able to walk to and from school.
ReplyDeleteOne Family...I think the very small towns and rural areas still have somewhat the same freedom for kids as existed when I was young, some 60 years ago. I also think that back then television was not something every family had and all the digital gadgets did not yet exist. Kids had to use their imaginations. Families actually talked to one another and played board games or cards in the evenings or listened to the serial stories on the radio. It was a more gentle time.
DeleteOh, what a wonderful post! I traveled back to those days right along with you...To the picnics at the lake, Mom's yummy potato salad, those long bike rides to play all day at a friend's house, ice skating on our pond after Dad had "tested" the ice for safe thickness...I grew up on a farm so spent many days roaming woods and pastures, playing dolls with my sister....Sweet memories! Thank you taking me there! :)
ReplyDeletelynney62...It is fun to go visit those times once in a while. I was lucky enough to have a taste of both town life and rural living. At about age 12, my parents moved us to a big old farmhouse in the country, complete with a large grove of trees to the north and west of it that provided hours and hours of roaming and pretending. I wasn't much for dolls, but spent time in the summer splashing about in the creek or tramping out through the fields just to see what I could see. I did the walking to the two room school thing, too, without any problems. Well, except for the time I picked up a kitten I found on the way. I was sent home that morning. Dad explained to me that kittens usually don't have white stripes on their backs and yes, baby skunks can spray. :)
DeleteJenn and I have been playing via the internet for months almost daily.
DeleteBW...That's so cool. I didn't know about online Scrabble. I learn something new every day. Scrabble was the game of choice for my parents evenings when Mother was in the nursing home. Mother usually won. Dad said she cheated. (family joke) How is the score between you and Jenn going?
DeleteNew here😊 Enjoyed this post and the comments as well. The game throwing the ball over the house is Annie Over. One more fun time: we would get a board and play Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in the irrigation ditch - nope, no parents there either, lots of mud though.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Lady Locust...I'm so glad you stopped by. Thanks for reminding me of the name of the game. My memory isn't what I wish it was sometimes. :)
DeleteMy creek wasn't deep enough for Tom Sawyer games, but you triggered another memory for me. A friend had built himself a raft and we would paddle it along the shoreline of a nearby lake, stopping to swim or just float and watch the clouds and talk. And then paddling like mad to get back home in time for supper!
I think that if my parents had known I was out on a lake on a homemade raft, they might not have been very happy with me, but then it seems like we knew how to take are of ourselves without needing parents watching us every second of every day. I doubt my grands will ever know that kind of freedom. Things have changed. I read not too long ago about a neighbor calling the law on a mother who allowed her 6 year old son to play in his back yard alone. Sad, really.
So many stories flood the memory. Just like running around in our yards, eat dinner so fast we all ran back out side with food stuffed in our mouths. The summer get together in Rush City with the extended family. Then the get together moving to Blaine. Most diffidently different times. Even my kids now talk about our adventures Great times had by all.
ReplyDeleteRob...It is so nice to be able to go back in memory and think about the good times. It is good your kids have adventures to remember. And I would be willing to bet that you will give that grandson of yours some adventures that he can look back on with a smile. He will have lots of good memories of his Grandpa and Grandma, I'm sure.
DeleteRemembered. Some of us still play Scabble.
ReplyDeleteBW...It is nice to know that some things remain the same. :)
DeleteY'know, Vicki, there's a song that says "The good old days weren't always good, tomorrow's not as bad as it seems (Billy Joel "Keepin' the Faith"). In part, it's true. When I was a young 'un, there was Viet Nam. The civil rights riots. Things weren't all good. That being said, things were indeed DIFFERENT. The world was bigger then. People were much more "local." There was the evening news, but people were much more concerned about what was going on outside their front doors than they were what was being piped in on the boob tube and the radio. Neighbors actually INTERACTED, and looked out for each other. These days, people are so "connected" that they don't even KNOW their neighbors. They are so "plugged in" that they'll be watching a wildfire burn online, and won't even realize that it's right down the street! No; things ARE different; in ways they've never been before, and definitely not for the better... Growing up, we had less, but had more...
ReplyDeleteOh; and the Flexible Fliers; our "stop or else" point was a small pond at the bottom of the hill that never quite froze over! I had to roll off the sled more than once! And damn if that hockey puck always ended up on the thin ice on "the big pond..."
Pete...I know that my childhood wasn't all lollipops and unicorns. Boys I knew who were barely out of high school were shipped off to Viet Nam, some of whom never returned. The civil rights riots weren't in my back yard, but I remember the news stories and television coverage about them.
DeleteWhen I take trips back in time, I tend to remember the good stuff. It takes my mind off the antifa thugs and the corrupt politicians and the hate and discontent of our world today - at least for a little while.
You are spot on about the disconnected world we live in. Folks don't talk to one another any more - they text. Most are glued to a screen of one kind or another. And I suspect I am just as guilty for spending more time at my computer than I should.
I can't distance myself from the realities of our world today, but I can take a short stroll back in time to remember there was once a world, at least in my hometown, that was kinder and more gentle.
I think I will take my railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill over your pond with the thin ice. I may have wound up out in the weeds once in a while, but there was no danger of an icy bath. :)