Perks of growing up in the country

When I look back at it, I am grateful to have been raised in the country. As a kid I caught frogs, toads, turtles and tadpoles in the “crick.” Summer was a time to explore the nearby slough, build forts and play cowboys and Indians. We would take turns being our favorite cowboy heroes and there were never any winners or losers. When we got called home for supper, we would go in, eat fast and head back outside until dark. After sunset we would play tag, kick the can or chase fireflies and see how many we could catch. You don’t see many fireflies around anymore. Maybe it has something to do with the insecticides that is sprayed, so that you don’t get bitten by mosquitoes.

 

You could ride your bike anywhere without worrying about anything. My friend Pat Smith lived a few miles away from my house on the east side of Hwy. 65 across from the state highway department. I would sometimes ride my bike over there and play with Pat and ride his pony, Scout. Now I had been around horses for as long as I could remember, but for some reason Scout took great pleasure in seeing how many times he could make end up laying on the ground.

 

Pat and I would also ride our bikes to the mink farm. The mink farm sat where Bancroft Bay Park is now. We would buy some horse meat which Willie Schneider would cut up in small chunks for us and use for bait to catch big sunfish and huge yellow-bellied bullheads.

 

All that I needed was an old tin aspirin box, a couple of hooks and some weights inside it. I wrapped my fishing line around the box and stuffed it into my pants pocket along with an old thermos bottle cork which I used for a bobber. I would find a long stick and use that for my fishing pole. It was simple but effective.

 

We would also play pickup games of baseball and football. I had a good football but no baseball glove.  When I batted, I didn’t need a glove, but when I went into the outfield, I had to borrow a glove from a player on the opposing team. This is how we rolled, pretty much whatever it took to make a game work. 

 

These are some of the memories that I cherish from growing up in the country and when times were simpler and much less stressful.

 

Please take the time to remember our troops that are serving now and those that have served before them. They are the reason that we have all of the Freedoms that we enjoy today.