Maison

Sleepovers never really made sense to me, because there is generally no sleep involved. In fact the one kid who fell asleep was never invited back. I mean, why would you come over and sleep, because you think I want you to come snore near me?

Mostly we stayed up playing all night and tore out of the house at sun up. Off the explore the world which seemed still so sound as the adults were sleeping yet. In the moment we owned the world. It was ours and sometimes it seemed so scary  like something from a horror film, but that was part of the excitement.

I wish I had the energy I had a child even now, as I could make better use of it these days.

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Now bike riding was where it was at! And the reason is simple, at 11 bike riding is the fastest way to move under our own power, and it liberates us by allowing us our own transportation. A bike is to a kid like a car is to an adult.

We have a bike and  we can say hey we are going now! And off we go! To the market, to the movies, to the library. Or just aimlessly riding.

It didn’t take me long to learn to ride a bike, and once I had I wouldn’t be held still, bike riding was everything I wanted to do.  I would get in touch with friends and we would all ride our bikes places, chatting when we pedaled slow, and racing when someone pulled ahead of the group.

I think todays kids don’t do as much of this activity because now they have computers and video games and stuff they do while sitting.

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I will never forget the summer we built our own clubhouse, which was of course boys only. ( How strange when the girls wanto to be around the boys we wont have them, the moment they get over it we spend our whole lives trying to get their attention again)

We got the lumber that was left over from my father’s building of a tool shed and put it together with our own design. It turned out good, and we received compliments on it, in fact we slept in it most of the summer, making us feel proud and a little independent. I think my parents enjoyed the break.

Of course the same can be done with snow,  but this summer one involved the use of tools and materials which are grown up things and therefore extra exciting. What little boy after watching his dad building a structure does not want to build his own?

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We used to go camping at the Lafitte campground. I enjoyed it, I spent countless hours trying to catch critters. Things like frogs, turtles, and snakes were prized weekend “pets”. Although actually getting one was a large rarity. It was the time spent around the ponds etc, watching for one that is what generates fond memories of the situation.

Of course there was things like campfires, and the making of pudgie pies, and smores, and hot dog roasting. The camping staples, and no trip would be complete without them.

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As a child I spent all my time trying to stay up at night and now as an adult I plot to get to bed early. It is funny how that works.

I think it was the “I want what I cannot have syndrome”.

And theres was alot of factors that went into it of course. All of us kids went to bed at a given hour, say 8 pm. But the adults stayed up. What did we miss? What goes on? And how does one get important enough to stay up past 8 PM? So the curiosity grew.

On the rare occasions where we were allow up late, we all felt so darn spiffy and important, like tiny adults. We were people who counted for something, we are a part of the cocktail party in our minds that all adults went to nightly. We were definitely big shots. The reality was, we only delayed our bedtime by 120 minutes, but to us that was a glorious period of time and we were experiencing something grand.

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Although I can only remember having gone to the drive in theater once, the fact that I remember it makes it a significant memory of interest, in fact, I saw E.T. at the drive in.

I think that the coming about of home entertainment systems has really killed the drive-in theater. It used to be a big family event back decades ago, but now its simpler and far more common to just go to blockbuster and get some new releases and watch then from the couch, in the comfort of your home.

In fact, I live in a large city, but I would have to drive 90+ miles to go to a drive-in. And thats just one way. Yeah I think that drive-in theaters are nearly almost gone. Nonetheless, its a good memory for me.

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I remember the first Independence day celebration I went to, and that because I was an adult visiting friends in the States. So it was not only a great time but a learning experience as well.

The fourth means barbecue, beer, warm weather, and impressive fireworks displays in the evening. If you have never seen fireworks they are so awesome to see, but what I remember most was the smell, there was a smell fo cordite that hung in the air, very much like the lingering smell of expended gunpowder, like a very colorful firefight.

There are vendors who sell everything that glows. Necklaces, bracelets, jump ropes, and every kind fo strange trinket you can think of.

And there are also small groups of drunk young men, inevitably attempting to impressive the crowd present with their handful of bottle rockets, I haven’t ever seen them succeed.

They should have a world holiday like this.

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Going to the Saturday matinée  was something I looked forward to all week long. There was usually 3 movies  I wanted to see, and my friends and I would make a big day of it.

We would go early and catch the first one, and then often would play in the video arcade until the next feature started. After having things like candy and cola for lunch it was a real effort to sit in that theater, nice and still, and yet completely hyper.

I cannot remember any of the movies we went to see, I guess it has been to long. But I do clearly recall the excitement of the time, of knowing these were my best buds and we were out together. thats what it really was about, the camaraderie of it all.

Quite inseperable at that age, of course time marches on and life takes it toll on people and they grow, get married, start their own families and in that way, all you ahve are memories like these.

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