A fun article for Friday…
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a cool little town in the Northeast. It was chock full of farmland, barns, and neighborhoods populated with Late Victorian and Greek Revival architecture (see above). Someday I hope to move back there. As one gets older, the heartstrings of home seem to pull with ever increasing strength. To be clear it’s certainly not just the locale but indeed the family memories and loved ones who welcome us with open arms every time we visit which makes it home. I’d like to share a bit of my non-digital, pre-internet childhood with you. It was pleasantly analog if you catch my meaning. Hope you enjoy.
When I was very young my next door neighbor was my best friend. Admittedly I was unsure if I was his but that didn’t really matter. He lived in THAT house. You know, the one where ALL the neighborhood kids gathered to have a plethora of nonstop fun. We’d play ball in his rather large, rectangular front yard and a few years later fly our model airplanes in circles near the center of the field. There was a tall oak tree beside their house. At least I think it was oak. It has numerous large branches protruding all the way up its trunk. Being close together made them quite useful for climbing. One could easily climb forty or more feet in the air. Perhaps that figure was actually lower as things look bigger when you’re a child. Clearly the emotion of fear had not yet matured in our brains for we went as high as the branches would allow. Truth be told, had any of us lost our grip, those branches would have quickly abated our fall…or perhaps the poor soul below us would have instead. We were all together. This was fun.
Then there was that Ford army Jeep. Although we were not yet even teenagers, my neighbor was allowed to drive it on their property. They had a lot of acreage on which to traverse. It was bumpy for sure, but at that age even the bumps are fun. We would often drive to the rear of their property and visit the bomb shelter back there. A bomb shelter? Well it was a different time back then and some folks decided to be prepared for the worst, although I could not imagine spending more than a few minutes inside that metal cylindrical tomb. The hinges squeaked in audible agony every time we opened the metal door. Inside it was dark, wet, and smelly. This too was fun.
I spent a lot of time over at various neighbor’s houses in fact. When day became night and it was time to go home my thoughts focused on that long, dark driveway lined with trees on either side of one neighbor’s house. I imagined almost anything could pop out from behind a tree at any given moment. It never did.
Halloween for us was not really about ghosts and ghouls but instead about traversing the neighborhood with a flock of our family and friends. Adorned with costumes and abundant candy storage, we all walked for a mile or more stopping at every home with their lights on willing to give us eager children a few morsels of treats. Flashlights were pointed in all directions and we had not a care in the world. We were not afraid of the dark.
When winter came the fun really began. There were a couple of ponds, including a small one on our property, which when frozen over became a nice little outdoor ice skating or hockey rink. I remember distinctly one first freeze of the season. A few of us adorned our winter gear and meager hockey equipment and headed over to a particular pond. Some lucky soul was chosen to evaluate and test the surface to determine if the ice was thick enough to walk on. A few loud ominous cracks were normal as the ice adjusted to our weight. We were careful to avoid the edges early in the season as they were the thinnest. Soon we’d have a dozen or so folks either ice skating or playing hockey depending on the participants. More fun. Zero electricity used. Carbon neutral for those keeping track.
As a child I’m convinced that I perceived time differently than I do today. In fact a day seemingly lasted a week back then. We were able to cram so much into a single day, until it came to chores that is. Rest assured it was in our nature to attempt to make even those at least mildly fun. Raking leaves (and shoveling snow) was drudgery when alone, but when the whole family was involved the work went faster and the pile of leaves grew larger and LARGER. Large enough to jump into from above while thousands of leaves cascaded on top of you. There’s nothing like the taste of dirt and leaves in your mouth. And we had our mouths open a lot because we were always laughing. I think us boomers actually added a few years to our life as a result of those endorphin filled, technologically unencumbered years. So there!
Well, when I grow up I’m going to invent a transporter to go back in time and do it all over again…………Oops, too late.
The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17
Jim
The Neighborhood
That was a fun adventure reading you historical roots of - fun! After a long day of writing intense, serious, and egregious content, it refreshed my soul. Thanks, Jim. I can always count on you for bringing the brighter side of living to life. Keep those coming. -Steve