My 1950's Playground......

It was a bit warmer today so Dave and I walked the few blocks to town for a cup of coffee. On the way home we went past some new construction - more condominiums going up almost next to our building.

As we walked by I had an immediate flash back to my childhood.

I grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois. We moved there from the city and our first house was on North Home Avenue. It was a small brick two story, but a very nice first house for my parents, my little sister and me. It was on a nice street....with lots of other young families. A few blocks away there were acres of apple trees and fields to explore and climb. The neighborhood was growing and between fourth and sixth grade I can remember lots of new homes going up. As each construction site started, it gave me and my friends all kinds of new places to explore. And new hills to climb....these kinds of dirt piles became our Mount Everest, our hide and seek spots.....our playgrounds.

I remember my friends, Sally, Lois, Jeannie and others spending all day Saturday exploring the new hills and collecting treasures. Nails and wires, those round silver "coins" that popped out of the electrical boxes and small 2 x 4 boards. Whatever caught our fancy. We'd explore unfinished homes....inside and outside....and no one ever told us to leave.

We'd dig caves or use cardboard boxes to slide down the hills. Imaginations gone wild before the days of video games.  We spent a lot of time outdoors in our neighborhood. During the summer months we continued to explore as houses went up and we also made lemonade to sell to the construction crews. We pulled a red wagon with paper cups and jugs of lemonade. The men were only too happy to see us and support our little venture, purchasing lemonade to cool down on hot summer work days.

All of these memories came flooding back as we walked past the new construction. It's a school day, so no kids were around.....but even if it was a Saturday, I had to wonder if today's kids would be intrigued the way we were.  Would they be allowed to just "run wild" and climb these dirt piles.

I sort of doubt it.....plus they'd probably think the activity totally boring. For us it was adventure.....unsupervised playgrounds. Here's a toast to the good old days!