What's was not to like for a kid? You got out of school and had 3 months of vacation that seemed to stretch out in front of you like and endless wave of fun. Or boredom, which was still better than school, at least in June and July. By August, well....
I admit that I'm putting on my nostalgic goggles (waterproof for all that swimming I did) for my childhood summers. It's easy to forget the icky stuff (was there any? - I was oblivious to anything going on outside of good 'ol Atlantic, Iowa).
We had the run of our neighborhood, stretching for blocks from out house - especially after I got that snazzy Western Flyer bike with the banana seat. I felt like one of Hell's own little angels on that baby - tooling around the 'hood. I've mentioned before how fortunate the Bullocks were when the Reinertsons moved into the house next door to us because there was someone for Cindy, Betsy and me to play with. Also the move got rid of the creepy family before them - with the son that burned Cindo with the cigarette lighter in their car. Don't worry - our dad punched him.
We spent countless hours with Kathryn, Laurie and Annie Reinertson indoors and out. We did plays (my grandmother typed up the tickets on her manual typewriter) in the Reinertson's yard, hanging a couple blankets over their clothesline for the curtain. I don't think I had many speaking lines. #moreofabehindthescenesgirl. We built forts in the "woods" next to our house and climbed the trees there. We also had a cool playhouse that our grandfather built - I wish I had a picture of it. I remember being so busy playing that it was inconvenient to have to go inside to tinkle - playing is such hard work! Mom did a good job of just leaving us alone.
We were so fortunate that our parents belonged to a golf course that had a small swimming pool because early members thought that was important. My Aunt Marty says my grandpa Bubba was the first one ever in the water. That's funny because I don't remember him ever being in the water! That pool saw a lot of action. It had an ever smaller "baby pool" next to it that was somewhat dangerous because it was much too deep for youngsters and had a slick rounded bottom. In later years they fixed that.
We spent a lot of time at that little pool - just ask my shoulders. I just had another little precancerous spot zapped last month. The pool had cool woven chairs that you could tip down and hang your towel on to make a shady fort on the grass. By the time we went home late in the afternoon, I'd be famished and exhausted - just what Mom was hoping for I'm sure. (The little rats will sleep well tonight)
Sometimes the neighbor kids would play night games like kick the can or Ghost in the Graveyard. Or another hide and seek game we called Sardines where one person hid and when you found them, you laid down by them - just like a sardine in a can! I loved being included with the big kids.
My sister Cindy had a wonderful imagination. She was great at making up things to do. We'd use our porcelain horse collection with little rubber animal erasers as riders and play Horse Camp. It was fun naming all the horses and people. Mom got some old wallpaper sample books and Cindy used old boxes to make houses for Barbie and decorate. Quite stylish. Again - I was probably the maid.
We'd draw a 4-Square "court" on the driveway and play that with a rubber ball. Banks or no banks? That made a huge difference. We had a flat roof on our garage, so hitting a tennis ball against the door required that I prop the ladder up at the same time. I can't believe Mom let me climb up on the roof.
I was in Atlantic - at least the landfill, McDonald's and the cemetery this week. I had lunch under the tree we planted after our infant son died. He's buried there along with four other generations of Bullocks. It was very peaceful - unlike the Bullocks on this side of the grass. Haha. I'll be back in A-town in a couple weeks for my class reunion. I'm looking forward to seeing my homegirls of course, but also those peeps that I don't get to see quite as frequently. Atlantic is a good place to be from. Bring on summer!
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| Adnah David Bullock - Civil War veteran |
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