My 3 siblings are quite a bit older than I am, so when I was a kid, I played mostly by myself. Occasionally, we had cousins or other friends over, but most of the time it was just me.
Back then, of course, playing outside was just about all we had to do. No TV shows to watch especially with only 4 channels! No video games, and certainly no cell phones.
For me it was my bike and the creek out back that kept me busy. We lived across from a church building, so I would ride my bike in the parking lot there. The creek in the back yard was hours of investigation! I had a special place with a vine to swing back and forth across it. And digging for crawdads was so much fun! Sometimes, I’d even find a snapping turtle.
I also loved to climb trees. We had this huge magnolia tree in the front yard. Aren’t they the best for climbing? Their branches are perfect. I even found 3 snakes under that tree once. My dad helped me catch them and put them in a big jar. I took them to school for show and tell!
When I look back at those times, I have many thoughts and feelings. How did I survive some of those things? Why did I do some things then I’d never do today? Where did my fearlessness go?
Kids are missing out today, aren’t they? How many have never experienced catching a crawdad with bare hands and getting pinched? How many have never ridden their bikes so fast down a big hill? Have any kids swung on a vine across a creek to their secret hide out? Did they have a secret hide out? Have any ever climbed so high in a tree it felt like they could touch the sky?
This world has changed so much. Some for the better but some for the worse. What is considered advancement by some, really isn’t if it has taken us away from playing outside and being a kid in God’s creation.
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