Holidays, Nonsense, Watch Out For The!
By Catherine
@bluesa (15023)
Johannesburg, South Africa
December 17, 2015 7:40am CST
Yesterday was a holiday in South Africa, and my sister and I pottered around the townhouse, getting stuff done, being lazy, when we heard a commotion outside. We ran into the garden and a little boy of about 8 years old was crying.
We have walls around our gardens, they are not very high, but, still quite a distance from the ground. And he had decided he was going to climb on one and walk along it, he lost his balance and fell, luckily he landed on a tarp on the grass and not on the bricks on the other side, but it was still sore, his Mom came running.
She of course reprimanded him, asking him why he got on the wall, he said he was bored, and grumbling along, off they walked.
It reminded me and my sis of nonsense we got up to during holidays when we were young.
I remember I loved my roller skates, but, sadly, they did not love me. I was also about 8 or 9 years old and it was a summer holiday, my friends and I would roller skate around this one building.
There was a wall we would skate towards, shoot our hands out, and then push ourselves backwards off the wall, I was heading for the wall at a good speed, when an elderly lady was walking by and she shouted, "watch out for the!" I turned my head to look at her, this of course distracted me, and splat!
Shoulder into wall, I bounced off the wall quite magnificently, if I do say so myself, and landed flat on my back.
The next incident, was on a weekend, I was roller skating down this small concrete ramp with friends, when I saw a small red wheel rolling away from my left skate, in the second it took me to realise a wheel had come off my skate, my face met concrete and I took a chip out of my tooth, and some skin off my face.
Yeah, you all can imagine how awesome I looked at school the next day. See? I loved my skates, but they did not love me, ha ha.
Did you get up to nonsense during holidays and weekends when you were young? Maybe some bicycle moment, or fellow skate incident? Did you ever have someone shout out, "watch out for the!"? Or did you stay, wisely and safely indoors playing video or board games?
25 people like this
22 responses
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
17 Dec 15
I did a lot of nonsense when I was young. I remember when I was a teen, that with my brother and a group of friends (10 in total) we embarked on a small boat, too small for all of us and after a couple of miles from the shore the boat sunk and we all had to be rescued. My parents were not happy.
9 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
17 Dec 15
Hi, Janet. The skates caused me a lot of pain :-D, thankfully I survived. The little boy fell into his garden, though we share the wall, there is grass and bricks on both sides, he fell on the grassy side, thank goodness, @jaboUK .
4 people like this
@celticeagle (159008)
• Boise, Idaho
17 Dec 15
I ran around with my two cousins. One holiday the younger of the two had just had her appendix out and her incision was still sore. I happened to push her a little when we disagreed, as was our manner, and i got in trouble. Had to go set in the corner for a while.
3 people like this
@celticeagle (159008)
• Boise, Idaho
17 Dec 15
@bluesa ..Yes, and a good talking to usually as well.
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
18 Dec 15
@celticeagle , oh yes, my ears still burn! :-D
2 people like this
@WorDazza (15833)
• Manchester, England
17 Dec 15
I was bored at my Grandmother's house one summer day so went into the back garden to see if there was anything interesting. There was! A pile of wood and a small axe. I picked up the axe, which although small, was still quite heavy for a child and proceeded to play at wood chopping.
First swing, the axe proved too heavy and uncontrollable and embedded itself into my leg! There was blood! One hospital visit and a few stitches later I was back in the garden looking for something else to do as the axe had mysteriously disappeared!!
4 people like this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
18 Dec 15
Mmmmm, this may qualify as nonsense...when I was 10 I tried to make a hang glider. It uh, didn't work very well:).
3 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
18 Dec 15
Ha ha ha! That was definitely nonsense! So, how many bruises? Everything still where it was meant to be afterwards? @HebrewGreekStudies , that must have been a sight. :-)
3 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
19 Dec 15
@HebrewGreekStudies , ha ha! It was a nice snowy pillow, a whole lot of it, but, still, it kept everything in place, I could have used a snowy pillow a time, or uhm, two. :-D
3 people like this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
19 Dec 15
@bluesa no bruises at all! I thankfully landed in snow:). A whole lot of snow...:/
3 people like this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
24 Dec 15
Ouch! I was once fooling around on my bike, going very fast, and lost control and went flying and that's how superman was born. 
3 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
25 Dec 15
Ouch, for you too! But, thank you for sharing how superman was born @1hopefulman . :-)
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
21 Dec 15
I tended to climb trees and get stuck, or get myself hopelessly lost just wandering off in any direction exploring
3 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
17 Dec 15
Oh heck no, I spent every minute outdoors and I have scars all over me to prove it!!
3 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
17 Dec 15
Ha ha, @BelleStarr , same here, between walls and skates and climbing up and over stuff. Those were the days huh....ouch, but never a dull moment.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
18 Dec 15
Oh, NICE, Cat! I am positive the embarrassment was just as painful as the "wounds" you received during those accidents! (Personally, I would say the old person caused the first accident by drawing your attention away from the danger you were rapidly approaching! Just saying!)
The second, though, was entirely on you! Not checking the wheels before skating was not a good idea! OUCH!
LOL! You brought to mind three incidents, Cat! Two when I was young and riding a bicycle and the third when I was in my thirties and roller blading with my six year old daughter...
The first two happened one year apart and in the exact same place both times! I was riding my bike home from work when I rode through a wash-out in the road. (I had ridden through there thousands of times with nothing going wrong.) I hit a rock and flipped my bike. I had to have stitches both times in my right knee and left elbow! Those were fun to get and to have removed!
The third incident happened when PrettyEvil (my daughter) and I were roller blading away from a convenience store. The parking lot sloped sharply away from the store. Normally, we bladed down the decline and stepped onto the grass at the bottom of the parking lot, walked across the grassy area and stepped back down to the pavement beyond and were on our way.
This time, a car turned into the lot just as we were reaching the grassy area. I was paying attention to my daughter and the car instead of watching where I was going. I hit the verge of the grass, stopping suddenly and somehow flipped so I landed on my tush! OWWWW! I was embarrassed, Pretty laughed and then some young ladies got out of the car and ran over to see if I was hurt!
YUP! Their concern hurt more than falling on my tush!
YUP! Their concern hurt more than falling on my tush!2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
20 Dec 15
@bluesa I realized while writing this to tell you about the incident that I still blush over this incident and the memory of the young ladies trying to make sure the old guy was not broken or something! SHEESH!
And I am blushing again writing this comment!
I realized while writing this to tell you about the incident that I still blush over this incident and the memory of the young ladies trying to make sure the old guy was not broken or something! SHEESH!
And I am blushing again writing this comment!2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
20 Dec 15
@DaddyEvil , at least we have blushing down to a fine T :-D. We survived those incidents and that!
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
18 Dec 15
Why, thank ya, DE, kind sir :-D. Yeah, through the pain and scrapes, was a blushing face! And a lot of "no, no, I'm fine! I'll pick my kidneys and so up from the floor, find my lungs, and be with y'all now now again! Just go about your business, and let us not attract attention already!":-D. Oh, I take the blame for the second incident :-D. Ugh, I hate stitches, Ouchee, you had to get them twice! As for landing on grass, it is strange how sometimes grass can seem as hard as any other surface, at a certain speed and angle, and a bruised butt can be so darn uncomfortable...! I am glad you survived it all @DaddyEvil . I feel your pain on the concern, I prefer to make like nothing happened when I have had an incident, and people hovering, well, blushing face again. :-D
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (79722)
• United States
17 Dec 15
I have some fond memories of roller skating when I was young but the falling part caused lots of skinned knees and bruises.
3 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38652)
• Midland, Michigan
3 Jan 16
I don't know that staying indoors was always a wise decision. Just think of the instruction you now have with warning youngsters of mishaps that can happen. You would have been oblivious if you were on a video game all day.
I did a lot of reading in the house, but we were expected to go out and play even more too. I fell a few times on my bike when going too fast down a hill, but I was more laid back. One thing we used to do was walk on a picket fence at the top, but it was only about three foot from the ground, so even if we fell we'd not get hurt. I don't remember anyone ever falling. I'm sure it helped improve my balance.
When we got a little older, we'd walk along the window ledges of the school on the next street. If an adult was watching, they'd have been concerned because there was brick wall between each window and we had to stretch one leg over to the next ledge and then move the rest of our bodies. We only did that for about five windows, I think, never all the way around the building.
(This comment brought to you by, @paigea and a post triggered by yours).
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Jan 16
@MarshaMusselman . Yes, I suppose there are dangers indoors too. I always had terrible balance, so it is great if balancing on the picket fence helped yours. The window ledges sounds nerve wrecking. Thank you for stopping by from paigea's discussion. :-)
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38652)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Jan 16
@paigea Not anything like you being swung off your tricycle. We were a bit older when we walked the window ledges, which means if we fell it wouldn't have been to far.
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40054)
• Laguna Woods, California
19 Dec 15
I broke my arm roller-skating when I was about that age! Yes, I did get up to nonsense when I was young!
3 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
19 Dec 15
Oh ouchee, @DeborahDiane ! That is so very painful! It is amazing we survived such adventures.
2 people like this
@GreatMartin (23677)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Dec 15
Then we grow up!! Wouldn't you rather be a kid again and, yes, getting up to nonsense especially that which had great and/or funny consequences?
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
24 Dec 15
@GreatMartin , yes, ha ha, there are days I wish I could be a kid again, and easily bounce back from certain incidents :-D.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
18 Dec 15
I got into big time trouble one summer when I was tattled on by an adult who saw me riding my bike with friends miles away from our house. I was about 7 and had no reason to be that far away from home. My bike got put away for a long time until I could ride it again. (didn't get hurt thought - just not following rules.)
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
19 Dec 15
@PaintsOnSlate , oh no, you must have missed your bike, glad you were not injured though.
2 people like this
@Pattitude (1287)
• Newton, North Carolina
19 Dec 15
Your post reminded me of how much I used to love roller skating. I don't remember mishaps, maybe I was not as daring as you!
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
20 Dec 15
@Pattitude , maybe you had better balance and luck than me, I fell so many times, I still cringe.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
18 Dec 15
and that "watch out for the" is not finished because you already accidentally bumped into that something? or you already bumped your head? or upon seeing who shouted, you slipped? everything happens for a reason! Happy Christmas to you!
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
18 Dec 15
Yes, the "watch out for the" is not finished because it was too late, I had already hit the wall :-D. Things do happen for a reason, they are all lessons, in what not to do. Thank you @ridingbet , Happy Christmas to you too! :-)
2 people like this
@bluesa (15023)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
19 Dec 15
@ridingbet , I hate it when that happens, you hear the warning, but it is too late, sorry you did not miss the poop in time! :-D
2 people like this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
19 Dec 15
@bluesa I stepped on a dog's poop in the garden this morning, and my son shouted, "Ma, don't step on...", I stepped on it. Eeewww!
2 people like this
@AnneEJ (4917)
• Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Quebec
4 Jan 16
I remember an incident where I wanted to go skiing with friends but had to help my mom in the house all morning. When I finally was able to go in the afternoon, it had turned colder and the ski tracks were frozen. I was alone on the hill and tried to ski down in the frozen tracks, ended up straddling a bush, and injuring my ankle. Had to make it home by myself.
1 person likes this
