Small Town Summers

School will soon be out and kids will soon need to be entertained. Remember when we spent the summers playing hopscotch, kick the can, some version or the other of baseball, Anti-I-Over, or tag? What about Hide and Seek. Do the young ones still do that? Maybe you could get Mom to pack a picnic lunch and you and a friend could wander off for the day. Of course, that was back in the days you didn’t even think of child abductors (or if you did, you might have one of those thoughts that Moms have. Thinking if someone took them they would return them in a hurry.) When I think of how we spent the summertime hours, it makes me thankful for growing up in a small community.

Glasgow still kind of fits that description, but childhood ingenuity has changed. Some of us remember the days when we had chickens or maybe a bucket calf or a horse that could be picketed out in the vacant lot. Having a horse close that you could ride, even living in town, was a real treat. Most of us didn’t bother with saddles, which probably could be attributed to the fact we couldn’t get our moms to leave their chores just to saddle a horse for the kids. Naturally, most all mothers had the ability to saddle a horse. Then there were always bikes when you got a little older. Most of us had gravel streets to ride on, but several small communities had paved roads just outside the city limits.

Parents didn’t take the kids to recreation classes, etc. and exercise was a given even without classes. I have been blessed by living in the country where my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can entertain themselves, and I do feel sad every time I see little kids in town and wonder just how they do entertain themselves. Guess that is why TV and phones have become such an important part of a young person’s life.