At least it is or almost is in The States. Lately, I've been thinking about my childhood summers in Michigan, specifically when I was in the 8 to 12 year old range and reminiscing about how much fun my friends and I used to have. My neighborhood was full of kids and there was always something to do. Baseball, stickball, stepball, kickball, spitting, grape nehi drinking (one bottle a day and it was only 8 fl. oz. curses to today's 20 oz. bottles), fishing, games of tag, going to the Boy's Club, tree climbing, BB gun shooting, hide and seek, doing stupid things involving fireworks, slingshot making, bug catching, chasing girls (later replaced by girl chasing, but that's another post) footballing, paper routing, bike adventuring, tadpole catching, bat watching, doing chores. You get the idea. The house was only for refueling, washing and sleeping. We would hit the street first thing in the morning and not come home until the street lights came on. No cellphone ckeckins, no texting, just enjoying the outdoors with no technology 'cept a bat and glove, and often that bat was taped up after being broken after hitting the game winning grandslam!!! I wonder if today's kids do all that kind of stuff. If not, are they missing out on some important (wo)man training? So, I'm asking, what did you do during the summer when you were 10 years old or so? Tell me your present age and where you grew up.....if you don't mind. Almost forgot, apple tree raiding and boy scout activities. One more, collecting stuff, all kinds of stuff the sharper, shinier and more potentially dangerous, the better.
