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I don't want to go way back to the days when I played in the dirt and picked all the green tomatoes off the vines and got chased by my father...but I did want to go back to the days of summer when school was out and we were allowed to play until the street lights came on and then on into the winter with snow and more fun. I remember putting on my skates (see above) with a skate key and skating on the rough sidewalk until my legs felt like they were vibrating hours later. Then one skate would come off; and I'd have to walk with one skate on and one off until I could reattach the loose one. I'd ride my bike around our block. We'd make puppets and have a show. When the blackberries ripened on the huge bushes at the end of our street, we'd eat our fill and then fill our containers to take home. We would swim in the neighbor's above-ground pool (we thought they must be rich!) until our skin was wrinkled. We'd get so hot and thirsty we'd drink from the garden hose or directly from the outdoor spigot. We played jump rope. We'd stand and eat the ripe seeds out of the huge yellow sunflowers planted along our driveway. I'd climb trees and annoy my friend's older sister. The street lights would come on; we'd be red-faced and sweating but didn't want to go in. Shortly you'd hear the mothers yelling our names out the first and second-floor windows (we lived on the second floor of a three-story home). "Linnn-daaaaa!!!!" And one by one we'd all head inside. In the winter we'd play outside until we couldn't feel our hands and feet, making snow forts and throwing snow balls. Today I can't stand the cold. Back then you couldn't get me inside. I would finally come in and take off my boots and gloves and warm my feet over the heat register. My feet and hands would swell up, turn red and start to itch. Did I have the beginnings of frostbite? Who cares! We had fun! What do you remember? Photo Credit: Pixabay