Playing Outside

When we played outside, the games were Hopscotch, (we would attack mother's jewelry box for chains to throw into the blocks), Dodge Ball, Mother May I, Red Rover-Come Over, Simon Says, Blind Man's Bluff, red Light-Green Light and of course Hide and Seek.

I have to wonder, how many children even heard of these games or ever play them today. It seems this generation of children entertain themselves with the electronic wizardry of such games that are provided by advanced technology such as Wii and Video games. My first introduction to a Video game was when Julie was a little girl and we had Atari and Pac Man.

Riding our bikes was fun and probably the best exercise we could get. Michele and I shared a bike; I seem to remember the bike being green. It was on that bike that Lynn and Michele had a bad accident. They both were in the hospital and missed the first week of school that year.

On the stoop of our house, we played jacks. I will never forget when we had decided to play jacks in our house at the bottom landing of the stairs. We did not get them all picked up at the end of the game and that night my father stepped on one of them in his bare feet. His howl of pain could be heard a block away.

Putting on a pair of skates and rolling down the street, was one of my favorite outdoor activities. You had to wear proper shoes or your skates were not going to stay on. Tennis shoes were too soft. The skate key that tightened your skates was hung around your neck on a shoe string. The best place to skate was not on our street but the street that continued from our street across the main road. This street was smoother than our street and you could get up a lot more speed.