Food for Thought

Okay, .............. if we must!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Getting back on task here....anyone remember playing "roll the bat" until dark with all the neighborhood kids...usually after supper and before catching lightning bugs?

 

Yep...taught my son and his buddies how to play it...they loved it

 

Nothing cut that parched spot in the back of your throat like a Grape Nehi...

Man, we were so lucky to be kids when we were...

My grandaddy would always be waiting on his porch for me when we went to visit, smoking his pipe. As soon as I got there, he made me go hug my granny and then we'd hop in his Studebaker and ride down to the store and hang out with his boys. (This was near West End, NC) He'd buy me a Mtn Dew (the green glass bottle with the Hillbilly on it) and I'd sit there and listen to them old fellas expose the wisdom of the ages.

I can still smell that George Washington pipe tobacco to this day. That man taught me about tire swings, dogs, indian arrow heads, buffalo nickels, liberty dimes, confederate dollars, how to enjoy a honeysuckle vine, less is more, Ty Cobb, being frugal is being Scottish, Laurence Welk, Pine State milk, sulpher molasses, rifles, shotguns, respect for women, Scottish Tartans and why firetrucks had dogs. And so much more... he passed away the day Evil Knevel tried to jump over the Snake River Canyon. Funny how things stick with you and some things don't...

 

Keep in the real world

Braves, I'm old but, not that old.

 

Alright. I'm old but you guys are losing focus....back to what is important here.......

 

The Good Ol' Days

Just a few of my childhood memories: brown bag lunches, school busses without amber lights, you knew if you misbehaved in school you'd get your ass whipped, not only at school but when you got home, you didn't watch TV until your homework was done, you didn't do anything until your chores were done, wiffle ball games, playing rundown for hours inthe backyard, if you wanted to go somewhere, you WALKED or rode your bike because Dad was at work and we only had one car. Finding a quarter and heading straight for for corner store to get a bag of penny candy, saving your allowance to buy and trade baseball cards, getting an autograph was something you cherished, the VALUE of it never entered your mind, waking up in the morning and putting your baseball uniform on and you did'nt play until 5 or 6 that evening, wanting to be a major leaguer and if you got paid that was even better. Sitting down reading a book, going to the drivein theatre, sitting down at the dinner table with the whole family, helping Mom do the dishes, seeing Dad sitting in his favorite chair reading the newspaper, and one of my alltime favorite memories was when I was done taking a bath, Mom would ask if I washed behind my ears. I never could understand that but I knew it must have been important if she asked. There are so many more, I could write a book on this subject. Great topic. Thanks I've enjoyed this walk down memory lane.

 

I think

what happens is we remember what we didnt have or didnt get when we were kids that we wanted. So we do everything in our power to make sure our kids do get those things. But then we realize the most important things we had and got were free. Just like all the things on this thread and more. I suspect the things our kids will remember and cherish the most were and are the things that were free as well.

Getting up at the crack of dawn at grand pa's house and tip toeing down to the Johnnie to take care of some early morning business. Praying the whole time "Oh Dear Lord don't let me step on a snake. Feeling the cold dew on the bottom of my feet as I made the walk. Making it to the Johnnie and sitting down and praying "Oh Dear Lord don't let me sit on a Black Widow like Uncle John did." Thanking him for answering my prayer. Making the walk back and saying the same prayer all over again. And thanking him when I made it back to the house. Smelling the wood burning stove when I woke up in the morning and then remembering to not step on the "night bucket" in the room as I got up to make my way to the kitchen for breakfast.

Feeling that cold dew on your arms and back as you made it down that long row of bacca. Peeling off that long sleeve shirt around 9am when that old sun broke out. The feel of that bacca gum on your fingers and peeling it off right before you ate lunch. Thinking about finishing off that last cart of bacca for the day and thinking about that fishing hole you were going to hit around 6. Not caring if you caught anything or not because you knew everyone was jumping in for a swim sooner or later. Knowing you made some school clothes money today and you were going to do it all over again the next day. Feeling like a man at 12 knowing you were a primer and passed the handing days behind you. Knowing one day Grand pa was going to let you drive the tractor in the field.

Taking off with your friends to walk the roads and find those drink bottles in the road ditches you could get penny candy for. Playing ball in the afternoon with your friends till it go so dark the light bugs came out. Getting mad when mom insisted that you take a bath. Being happy she made your brothers take a bath. Getting to play baseball with your friends you grew up with. Feeling the pride of making the team. Feeling the pride of getting that uniform. Mom sewing the numbers back on the uniform and the holes up in the pants.

What we felt were set backs and what we felt we missed out on we now realize were blessings. I remember telling my parents I was tired of working in the tobacco field. When I was in HS they told me I could do something else so I could make football workouts in the afternoon and not have to stay in Greensboro to work with my grandpa. I got a great job with the Farmers Exchange in Durham. I rode in a pick up truck down to Raeford NC everyday at the crack of dawn with four or five other guys to vacinate trukeys and chickens. Nothing like being in a chicken coup with 15,000 birds. Real nice and hot and the smell was wonderful. I worked 5am to 1pm , 40 hours a week and made 86.00 before taxes. Then I went to football workouts.

It didnt take me long to realize those bacca fields were not so bad. I remember getting ready to play Union Pines my senior year in football and the coach said "The game has been moved to later in the year boys. The boys at Union Pines are having to put in a late tobacco crop so they are going to have to move the game."

The bottom line is we were very lucky. In our attempt to give more we give less. The best things in life are free. Always have been , always will be.

 

My dad was a teacher and coach, but he was also a hustler that would do about anything for an extra buck. One summer he got the rights to cut the timber off a five or six acre site that was to be cleared for a new school. Well, that entire summer and fall, the two of us cut oakwood and split it into firewood. By late fall, we had a pile of cured wood about ten feet high and thirty feet across. Now it was time to sell and deliver that wood and get paid for the effort. When the money started coming in, my dad asked me how much I thought I deserved. Boldly, I told him HALF. I had worked side by side with him so why shouldn't I get half. Of course, I didn't think about the fact that he got the gig, he bought and maintained the saw, he had the truck, he paid the gas, and he knew all the customers. But my dad gave me half. Funny the things you remember.

 

Kicking/pushing an ole tire down the road.

Today life is almost a bore. I still wake up early like I did when I was a kid.

Nowadays the kids all sleep in. Darn near noon till most get out of bed. I think they are board.

Don't know what to do with themselves. Just so many Wii, Playstation, Xbox 360 games you can play. And at 50 dollars a game oh crap. Not to mention TV stations galore.

Fridays meant something back then. It meant Saturday was next and FUN FUN FUN. Whatever we could imagine. Lots of time it was "lets go down to the park and play some ball."

or

Lets go fishing.

or

Lets build a fort.

or

Lets build something.

or

Treehouse.

or

Lets get our BB guns or later our pellet guns and go hunting, shooting, or something.

or

Anything. As long as it was outside. Gosh forbid if our parents didn't let us go outside. Outside meant freedom, imagination, and friends.

Our world.

Wonder what kids of today think the limits of their world are?. Worldwide communication via the internet? Worldly I suppose. Limited I think.

Our limits were the limits of the universe. As far as our imaginations could take us.