JFF - Paint Me a Picture...

I am in the alley behind my house picking Lilacs for my mother. The sun is shining, the smell of lilacs everywhere. I would bring the flowers in to my mother to see her smile and to make the house smell like lilacs.
I loved playing in that alley. I would hide in between the bushes when we played hide and seek or when I was upset. I still think about my mother and my childhood everytime I smell lilacs.

Playing kickball outside with the neighborhood kids! Or playing Star Wars inside my house with my brother :)

I don't know why I even answer these things, b/c I always throw such a damper on things, but I *really* do not want to edit this article that's sitting on my desk today.

But, little Mira (who went by a different name as a child) is sitting all by herself on the playground, while other kids throw garbage at her and call her semi-obscene names. (Not an exceptional day, just a normal schoolday.) So as soon as she can, Mira rides her bike to the library and sits in a corner reading until it closes. Which, grownup Mira still believes, is the secret to happiness. She still swears by the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, too ;)

Building forts in the woods surrounding our neighborhood...with scraps picked up on construction sites...collecting bottles at the construction sites, returning them at 7-11 for $ to buy candy, riding bikes, playing ball in the street with all of the kids in our neighborhood, playing at the neighborhood park.

Oh Mira,
big cyber hug to you, sweetheart. I just got a little teary-eyed for you.

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I would be in our family car with my parents and little brother, sweating driving the grapevine on an August day, heading to the redwoods. My dad wouldn't want to use the AC because he wouldn't want the car to break down on the steep grade. My brother and I would be asking for the umpteenth time, "When are we going to be there?!" And my mom would pull out another dollar store small toy for each of us out of her goodie grab bag in the front seat.

Finally we would arrive, driving through the HUGE redwood tree into Richardson's Grove State Park. We'd check in, locate our camp site and scramble out of the car, soooo excited to finally be there.

While there we'd hike, feed the deer in our site, fish in the streams (catch rainbow trout for dinner!), visit the gift shop where I'd pore over the various redwood items, trying to decide how to spend my big $5), make smores and sing "The Ants Go Marching In," "Tommy Tinker" and "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" camps songs.

Life was simple. I credit my parents w/ my love of nature to this day.

Outside--riding my bike as fast as I could from my home, to the BEST park in the Twin Cities, Como Park, riding around the lake, and once I got around the lake my friends and I would go swimming in the waterfall near the lakeside pavillion. That was my absolute favorite thing to do.

How fun!

We made a clubhouse in our backyard. We were secret detectives and would convene to discuss what crimes we were to fight. My all time favorite was being outside playing with my dogs. I also loved picking flowers from the fields, I think about that fondly.

We had what we called "the dirt pile" in our backyard. I think it started out as leftover from my parents adding their garage. My older sister & brother & I LOVED to play in it! We would go out with little shovels and our matchbox cars, maybe some G.I. Joes (I was a tomgirl! lol). We'd dig and shape the dirt into a "town" and play for hours! Whenever we got bored with how it looked, Dad would put this attachment on his lawn tractor and tear it all up. And we would start all over again! :) Cheapest toy ever - dirt! ha!

Eventually I guess we grew out of it and my parents finally grew grass there! :)

We had a ton of children in our neighborhood and we would regularly come together under a tree at the side of my house where we would dig. We were trying to get to china at the "other side of the world". Ah, memories. :)

I'm going to choose a sweet memory, around nine years old wandering around in 7 acres of woods behind our house in Idaho, building hidden forts with fallen branches, spying deer drinking from a small spring, climbing trees.... I was a kid who found being alone much safer than being around family, and these activities helped me to feel capable, connected with other living creatures.

To Mira: Hugs. I "know" that one and yes, I love those books too...they were my 'friends' for many years. Laura's more adult books on rural life (compilations of articles she wrote as J. Wilder in Tennesse) are fascinating;she was very progressive for her time.

Just a curious side question M.: have you read Bettelheim's writing on play as a way for children to develop their sense of independent self and personhood? I think children find their retreats, their health and sometimes their own safety through play. I still have a very strong affinity with the natural world to this day.

We had a bunch of kids in our neighborhood ~ we would swim in the pool at our house, jump on the tramp at our next door neighbors, listen for the ice-cream truck, eat at the grandparents house across the street and we'd play hide and seek or sardines at night until all our parents started calling us in.

As a young teen I remember Sunday afternoons after church. Our friends would come over (there was the 3 of us and we had 1 or 2 friends each every sunday) and my parents would feed us all sub sandwhiches then we'd head outside to play bump or shoot hoops, play volleyball in the backyard or go to the elementary school a few blocks away and play softball (even my parents would play!).

Hmmm? Mine is too depressing so I PM'd it to you instead of putting it out here for all to read.

I forgot to mention if peaked in on the right time, we did spend a LOT of time at the beach! :)

After dinner, every day during the spring, summer and fall, my mother would take me to the park which was across the backyard. At the park, I remember my mother pushing me on the swing for hours. I remember the smell and warmth of the sunshine. I was a regular at the park. I was a park kid. When not on the swings, I was playing on the monkey bars, the slide, at the sandbox, or doing mud pies with the parks/rec girl. I remember running, jumping, and doing somersaults at the park and running down the hills. I remember picking daisies at the park and standing on my tippy toes to get a drink of water at the fountain.

Thank you for taking me back there:)

Swimming in the pool. I lived in the pool in the summer and any other time I could get in there I was. I had a great tan and green hair. Lol This lasted from about the age of 5-12. From the ages of 12-14 I could be found outside rollerblading literally everywhere.

Travelling / exploring. Japan, Singapore, hong kong, Philapenes, etc. By train, car, foot, boat. Trying to be invisible as we get to go in secret places (blond and ringlets in the 70s in Asia = getting to go in the back of shops/ temples/ strangers houses, etc), and knowing we werent allowed to be wherever, but being coaxed back with trinkets and treats and pantomimes of funny stories to make me laugh. Being invited for tea or a meal. Leaving with packages and toys and going on our next adventure to god only knew where. Bazaars, Suks, temples, monasteries, hot springs, gritty stations, wooden rooms filled with incense, mountains with stairs cut into them so long ago they seem like natural rock.

Any random day, you'd be likely to find me exploring and meeting people.

You would probably find me in the tree in my front yard with a book.

Playing outside was such a foundational part of childhood for everyone I know my age or older. Maybe mom was around, but I usually felt like there wasn't a grown-up there (awesome!).

Favorite thing to do: hide in little dens outside (such as behind the board next to the garage), pick dandelions, throw snowballs at stop signs, look at books, explore and have "adventures," usually inspired by the books I read. Time flew, and I suppose I burned zillions of calories doing so.

I've always thought that being outdoors naturally encourages physical activity, self-direction, self-discovery, and learning appropriate risk-taking behavior. It also makes you make friends, learn who is an isn't trustworthy, and gives you a sense of place.

It seems today that too many kids are kept cooped up indoors, simply because the grown-up isn't comfortable being outdoors. Very sad.

Running around the countryside by our house with my friends - sometimes miles away from home ( can't imagine letting my kids do that now! LOL). Building forts out of sheets, old suitcases and pretending we were 'adults'. Riding our bikes everywhere and playing kickball. Getting sad when it was starting to get dark because I knew that meant I had to go inside. I swear the idea of being allowed to stay out just a few minutes later or knowing I could have a sleepover on a night in the summer was the best!!

Playing in the woods / fields / whatever in our great big backyard. Catching critters and playing imaginary games.

Playing outside! Digging in the dirt, riding bikes, exploring the corn field (which we got in big trouble for doing), ghosts in the graveyard, playing in the snow and puddles,lots of imaginative play--cops and robbers, putting on plays on my grandma's patio, cooking with mud and whatever else we could find, playing under the trees as our secret hideout.

when I was under 10, we lived on a country farm/small grass strip airport, my dad stayed at home with me till I was 3, and we regularly went fishing, where I would eat the bait (often we used the precooked shrimp in the little cans or sweet corn in a can as bait). In the yard, I practiced archery, casting the fishing pole with a weight on the line, or shot at old bottles and targets, with guns, with Dad. My dad built me a great playhouse with a deck, 3 windows, a door with a lock on the inside to lock out grownups, and an upstairs sleeping loft with a rope ladder up to it - I played in there alot. I loved to color and draw, and to read and climb trees.

After 10, we moved into town, still loved to climb trees but also sat on the porch swing reading, or roller bladed all over town.

I played in the woods behind my house with my brother and cousins alot.

I am in my grandparent's back yard playing croquet with my sister and cousins. The adults are sitting at the picnic table talking. We have just finished eating lunch outside. Later on, all of the grandkids will help grandma make homemade ice cream. When the sun goes down, we will all catch lightening bugs in the back yard and eat our ice cream. I miss those those days. :(
My grandparents are now 86 and 88 years old. We are blessed to still have them but, they don't get around very well anymore. My cousins are spread out all over the U.S. We all have children of our own and don't get to see each other as much as we used to. Some of my greatest childhood memories were made in my grandparent's back yard. :)