Remember When

 I seem to be on a 'nostalgia' kick lately.  Not sure why.  Perhaps it is because the world around us is full of lunatics.  Or quite possibly it is because I am nearing my expiration date and long for the world of my past.

The world where a kid could ride a bike all over town.  Got my first bike at age 6.  When the training wheels came off, I explored my town of between 9 and 10 thousand people, along with several of my peers, with nary a problem.

The world where a kid could safely play at a park, unsupervised.  During my grade school years in the second and third grades, I walked the five blocks to the school in the summer to play on the playground equipment and in winter, to go skating on the outdoor ice-skating rink.  No worries.

A world where, after the family moves to a house in the country, a mile and a half walk to the local two room schoolhouse was fun.  Met up with classmates from neighboring farms on the way.  Played in the creek on the way home.  Good fun for a 4th grader who loves the outdoors.  There was only one problem.  I learned the hard way that one does not call "Here, kitty, kitty" to a litter of baby skunks.  Got sent home from school.  Mom buried my clothes.  Spent the better part of the day in the bathtub, trying to get rid of the aroma.  Sigh.

A world where summer evenings would find neighbors sitting on front porches, coffee or lemonade or maybe a beer in hand, engaged in gentle conversation.  I can recall laughter at the telling of 'Dad jokes,' the talk about neighborhood doings, etc.  No yelling.  No name calling.  No drama that has become commonplace.

A world where neighbors helped one another.  My mother knew how to cut hair, so she trimmed the hair of some of the neighbor ladies.  Dad helped wherever he could.  He wasn't a mechanic by trade, but he was a genius at fixing problems in auto engines.  And he shared his garden produce with the neighbors.  Everyone seemed to get along then.

I understand that there are still places where people get along with their neighbors.  There are people who are kind and generous.  It just seems like this is more the exception now than being the rule.

We need to fix this, if at all possible.  We need to go about our days without having to look over shoulders for danger.  Our kids and grands need to be able to do kid stuff without mommy or daddy watching their every move.  

Mostly, we need to be kind.