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Summer of our youth
Once school let out for the summer, time seemed to slow way down, days went on forever.
I had a second hand bicycle and had managed to strap on an old wicker fishing basket onto the handlebars, would borrow my brother's boy scout canteen, head out the door in the morning and wouldn't be back till suppertime.
Something I realize would totally freak out and panic any parent today.
I pedaled for miles, down dirt lanes, wading and chasing frogs in cold spring fed creeks, picked wild strawberries, grapes or blackberries for lunch.
There was a community swimming pool, but it did cost a bit, so my parents weren't always able to send us there but a sprinkler in the front yard was a welcomed alternative.
Dad would often take us to each pick out our very own kite from the dollar selection. It was exciting to assemble and I could spend hours in the open field flying them.
"Coming of age" meant that after the same pleas year after year, day after day, mom finally said yes, I was old enough to go back out after supper and play kick the can and hide and seek with the older kids in the dark. Wow that was a big thing.
I sit outside on my porch, I don't ever seem to hear any children playing outside anymore, never see them riding bicycles, I understand why, there's the technology side of it and they are inside on the computer, texting, playstations, cable TV...and I understand too, that parents can't yell out upon hearing the screen door slam. "Be home for supper!" It's just not safe out there anymore.
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| July 16, 2011, 12:31 |
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1Randis
49 / male
Houghton Lake, Michigan, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
Ahh yes the good old days. I would spend one week mowing the neighbors lawns to scrape up a few bucks and spend the next week fishing with the bait I had bought. and still had money left for snacks and sodas...... not like you can do that anymore mind you, but I still had a blast doin it!
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| July 16, 2011, 13:53 |
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perveman
111 / male
Tucson, Arizona, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
These are realative and generational times, especially in 19...(year's) something, Vancouver, Washington. When I was a kid, used to leave the house, with friends, in the morning, go into the thickets and woods, eat the berries, fruits (all grew wild), and fish in the creeks for Rainbow trout. Gone till dinner. No problem. Back in the day when parents would go to work, us kids in school, opened the wood door, left the screen door unlocked, till we went home. Simpler times. Those days are gone. Sigh.
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| July 16, 2011, 15:10 |
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User no longer registered.
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Re: Summer of our youth
Rands post reminds me of how we use to scrape and save up money from chores for the County Fair.
Rarely ever wore shoes all summer long, use to run through the unmowed grass and see how much clover we'd catch between our toes.
Somedays, I ride my bike to the library, and spend the day looking up all the different plants, bugs, birds I had seen on other biking days.
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| July 16, 2011, 15:21 |
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Iwant2kssuallovr
62 / female
Bendover, Florida, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
As a kid, we really weren't allowed to wonder off too far. We would bike down this one hill, till one of us (my cousin) would wipe out, get hurt, and we'd have to go home. We would run up and down our street with all the other neighbor kids. Usually in our yard as we had a huge ear tree to climb. I remember once when it was dark running in my neighbors yard. I ran head on into their swing set pole. It caught me right in the chest and I simply sunk to my knees.
We had bikes and rode almost every day to the pool or lake. We use to only eat a pack of crackers all day and sneak cigarettes out of the vending machine. We'd make calls to guys from the pay phone! Or, we would walk to the pool from my girlfriend's house. At her house we would eat a salami sandwich.
I won't go into what we did when we got a little older.
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| July 16, 2011, 15:41 |
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funlovingpair
59 / couple
Frozen Tundra, Minnesota, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
Ahhh, the good ol days. We took off at mid-morning, only to return for supper. When the 6 o'clock whistle blew, it was time to get home. Went to the beach and swam all day, OMG and we weren't even supervised by any parent. Ran all over town on our bicycles, with no helmets. Funny, and we all survived.
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| July 16, 2011, 18:04 |
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NRG4U
63 / male
Beaver City, Nebraska, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
swimming wasnt a problem, had my choice of 2 farm ponds, if u dont mind swimmin with cows..lol It wasnt unusual to just throw a bridle on one of the horses & ride to our neighbors & just spend the day riding
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| July 17, 2011, 00:52 |
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GG317
60 / male
Bowl of Granola, Massachusetts, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
Me and three of my friends,would be playing outside at midnight looking for kicks on a Wednesday night, and we were ten...Oh wait that was just a news story I heard. Four youths, all under ten were hanging around this guys business, ice cream business. They broke into his locked trucks and stole 150k in ice cream in Indiana last week. The owner only found out when he checked the tapes for that night and saw the ten-year-olds doing the crime. He turned them into the police, but nothing has happened as of yet. The police would only say that prosecuting ten-year-olds isn't worth much of the man power that is the police...     
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| July 17, 2011, 04:29 |
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newbie1011
62 / female
The Shore, New Jersey, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
I was born and raised in NYC but weekends and whenever possible even during the week when we had no school we were at our house "upstate" NY. The Catskill mountains. Some of you might know the area they had a little concert there about 10 minutes from my house they called it "Woodstock" (although it was is Bethel,NY next to White Lake).
Anyway every kid in town knew each other and all hung out together. We were all on the lake if it was a reasonable hour and weather permitting. If we weren't on ski's at that moment we were fishing, swimming,sailing, canoeing, row boating, or working on something that was related to that. At least once per weekend we had a softball game at Cochecton Center Across from the general store. The other thing we tried to fit in most weekends was a horseback riding adventure. They were always adventures because we always seemed to have at least one person that was visiting that couldn't ride or some thing happen that would turn it into an adventure. (Like the time some idiot decided to ride his motorcycle on the trail and spook the horses so that half the group got thrown.)
I still love going up there.Now that we all have our own kids, our kids have become friends and do the exact same things we did. It seems like time has stood still in that town and I am really glad it has.The general store, lunchette and local pub are all still there. It is the only place I every went that I loved getting up at the crack of dawn so I can go down to the dock and just look at the lake when it is absolutely still . The only thing that will cause a ripple in the water is a fish here or there or a maybe a few ducks or other birds.I think it's the most relaxing place in the world.
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| July 19, 2011, 18:48 |
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GG317
60 / male
Bowl of Granola, Massachusetts, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
My mother tells the story about how her, "Charlie Brown" was lost in the big department store. I wasn't lost, I had made a bee-line for the TV department, only stopping in the shoe department to drag the bench four isles over. I sat there refusing to answer the calls for Charlie Brown over the loudspeaker...  That would never of happened today. I would of been on some kind of amber alert and my mom would be talking to child services... 
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| July 20, 2011, 01:03 |
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ashkats
65 / couple
crystal falls, Michigan, US
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Re: Summer of our youth
in deed that was then i too go out fishing ,swimming bike riding for days and we rode miles , never seen us on a milk carton, and remember them ?, use to get them from a machine for 45 cent each...lol then we got mini b ikes and small cycles gas was 47 cents or so didn't eat for days , that's for us eating all them fish we caught, use to make fires on the bank and roast them , now my nephew gets busted for starting a fire in a grill in the park and having a lighter, isn't that what there for? my kid get bust over a cub scout pocket knife, the scouts gave it to him ...
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| July 20, 2011, 06:22 |
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