Posts
Monday, July 12
Do all you want to; take in everything,
but realize that you must account to God
for everything you do.” (Eccl. 11:9-10 TLB)
The Baby Boomer era is said to be the years between 1946 and 1964 so that would include me. I belong in the very first year of that group, born in 1946. So, now you know how old I am!
Each year, when summer comes and the kids are out of school, it always makes me reflect on my childhood summers that seemed to last forever. I think about all the wonderful days I experienced growing up. We had so much fun.
But we had no idea we were so deprived.
Deprived? Yup. We didn’t have things like…
* air conditioning
* computers
* videos or DVDs
* chat rooms and social media
* plasma screen TVs
* cell phones and texting
* text messages
* iPods
* and the only blackberries we had came out of grandmother’s garden!
Forced to be outsiders, we actually got exercise by running around playing tag, kick ball, or roller skating. We circled the neighborhood subdivision on our bikes until dark and the bugs hit our teeth or Mom rang the bell to come home.
To cool ourselves, we played in the hose in the backyard and, yikes, we even drank from the hose! Going swimming was a real treat. We made forts, either outside or inside the house. We played games like Mr. Potato Head, Pick Up Sticks, or Clue. And Saturday mornings brought fun cartoons.
We respected our parents, our teachers, and other grownups. We said things like “yes, ma’am,” and “no, sir,” “please,” and “thank you.” Being mean, stealing, or hurting someone was not part of our personalities. Well, not most of us anyway.
Almost everyone went to church on Sunday. All the stores, except for a few restaurants, gas stations, and drugstores, were closed to honor the Lord’s Day. And it was the law.
Every night, we ate dinner together as a family at the kitchen table. Except Sunday night. On Sundays, we raided the fridge for leftovers and gathered around the black and white picture tube in the family room to watch Superman and Ed Sullivan.
The family car, left in the driveway or on the street at night, appeared exactly the same when the sun came up.
Having a lemonade stand at the end of the street existed without the risk of its owners being abducted.
On clear nights, we would lie on a blanket in the backyard, waiting for the house to cool for bedtime. We would gaze up at a bazillion stars sparkling against the black velvet sky.
Ah, those never-ending summer daze (daze…to overwhelm or dazzle)!
Let’s see…we were deprived of what?
This is part of the One Word Blog Carnival at Bridget Chumbley's site.
