Fun and Games

Isn't it funny how you remember something like the date when something horrible happens?   I still remember it was a Friday, the 13th and I rode my bike to Lynwood School.  I rode my bike most days.  I really loved my bike and enjoyed riding it any chance I got.  Anyway, that particular day after school I went to get my bike...and both tires were FLAT.  Punctured!!  some horrible person had decided that I should be the brunt of their sick ways.  I mean, Susie Willis and I did mean stuff...but NEVER to some one's bike!!   I was so upset I cried!!  and then walked my bike all the way home.  Dad must have sprung for the new tires and tubes...and heaven knows I knew how to change them!!

When I got a little older Skate boards were invented.  Back then they were made of plywood with metal wheels.  Painted red.  I was pretty good on my skates, so I knew the skateboard was just made for me.  And it was.   Since this was a totally new piece of equipment, no one knew how it should be used.  So Judy and I would take turns hauling it up Sunset Parkway just past the Pratt's house and skate on down...always landing on our lawn.  Each time we'd take it a little further up Sunset Parkway.  We got where we could go all the way to the end of the block... and REALLY zoom on down the hill.   Then...we decided we needed to add a little more challenge to it... so we started riding it BACKWARD down the hill.  I could make it all the way from the top of the block to our house...backwards!!!   on those metal wheels!!!  

Since we never owned a TV, us kids found a lot to do outside.  Judy really loved tumbling.  She was pretty good at it.  And Em was the best at it.  Em could do flips and cartwheels like crazy.  I was not good at any of it.  But...I made the best base for the other kids.  I would lay on my back and put my legs in the air and they'd come running and I'd "grab" them with my feet and flip them over.  I remember the Parfitt kids came and joined us tumbling out front. 

At night we played capture the flag quite often, or hide and seek.  We were allowed to stay out quite late in the summer.  I'm sure Dad was working in his garden, but I have no idea what mom was doing when we were outside playing. 

I was the best tree climber in the family though.  I loved the big trees that were out front.  I could climb higher than anyone else.  Dad took advantage of that skill and had me trim the trees when that was necessary.  I loved doing that.  Another REAL job that I was good at!!   hmmm maybe I should have taken up yard work...    I remember climbing into one of the tress and just sitting there for hours...just watching the world go by. 

I could also climb up the door jambs in the house.  Feet on one side, butt on the other and climb up to the top of the door jamb.  I would sit there until one of my siblings pulled me down or Mom or Dad told me to get down.  Why was that fun???

Once I got a hamster for a pet...it only lasted one day though.  I wanted to PLAY with the little guy, so I kept letting it out of the cage to run around.  It never went too far so I thought that was safe.  It wasn't.  As I said, we were an active family...constantly dancing, tumbling, etc.  Anyway, Em came into the room and danced right onto my hamster.  Dad did not replace him!!  It wasn't Em's fault...there was no way she saw it.

My slightly  retarded dog, Priss had puppies (twice).  The first litter came at a good time--I think before Christmas and I took the puppies around the neighborhood in a wagon and sold each of them for $5.00.  the second time she had pups NONE of them sold.  We had to take them to the pound...and then Dad had Priss spayed. 

I don't remember what year we finally got a telephone...but that was pretty exciting for us.  All the years I lived in that house we only had ONE phone though.  In the living room--right next to the room my parents slept in.  Not a problem when you are young...but in our teens years we hated that!!   The WHOLE family listened every time you talked on the phone.

Back when we got the phone we had a "party line"   there were a group of people that shared the same line.  So when you picked up the phone, sometimes there would be someone else talking.  The proper thing to do was to hang up and check later to see if the line was clear.  But...we were kids.  Listening in on other peoples conversations was just way too much fun.  Often the other person could tell we were listening in and they'd keep yelling "hang up" to us. 

At one point Judy and I discovered that my voice sounded male on the phone.  We called up unsuspecting girls that we knew and told them how beautiful they were, or asked them out or whatever other mischief we could.  We thought that was super funny!!

While Judy and I were doing all this active stuff...JoAnn tended to stay in the house and read.  She loved to read.  I never could under stand why she'd want to be reading when there was so much to do outside...but that was her passion.  Dad loved JoAnn for that.  He thought she was the most intelligent kid ever.  And he disliked me equally since I hated reading, going to school...anything academic!  I remember Dad more than once telling me I should be more like JoAnn.  Why couldn't I be smart like Judy and JoAnn and instead of dumb like Don.   I'm sure Dad just wanted us to get a good education, but Don and I were just smart in other ways.  School was just never our thing. 

JoAnn took to bird watching like a natural also.  Boy did that make Dad happy!!  A quiet, smart kid that loved bird watching...could there be a more perfect child!!!  I never resented JoAnn for this.  I really liked JoAnn and we got along just fine. Even if she was the PERFECT child.   Another of JoAnn's skills was...she could forge Mom's signature PERFECTLY!!!   I used that skill of hers often in High School.  JoAnn and I would cut school and go hiiking!!   We never cut school to do anything bad... it was always just to get away.  JoAnn got straight "A's" in school...so cutting once in awhile was no big deal for her.  I'm sure my cutting didn't help me any.  Since we could never own a vehicle while we lived under Dad's roof...he let us drive the VW Bus anytime we wanted.  He even gave us each a Chevron Credit Card for gas.  He just asked that we also made sure the bus had gas in it.  So..when we cut school...we even had transportation to head out to Pt. Reyes or Mt Tam!!