"What was your favorite pastime as a child?
Did you prefer doing it alone or with someone else?"
The Sand Pile
When our parent's were building the house on Apiary Road there was a large sand pile outside the family room sliding door. My siblings and I spent many an hour playing in the sand while the grown ups cleared brush or put up sheet rock. I would fill my empty coffee can with sand and pour it over my head and watch the sand rolling down off my head into the pile, just waiting for me to repeat the process once again. The trick was to do it without getting it into my eyes. This was a feat my brother Gerry never mastered, he often poured sand directly onto his face or threw sand into the wind with the same results.
Once I tired of the "sand rinses" I would spend the rest of our time there scratching my head to dislodge the sand particles It would make Kathy so mad! She had very curly hair and lots of it. Because of this, when she washed her hair it was hard to get all the soap out. This led to dandruff and scratching.....I was only imitating her, and imitation is a form of flattery isn't it?
~ Kal
Past time at Grandma's
Since toys were few, but imagination was never in short supply, I would play the "drowning man" in the front yard with an army man, water hose, and a little patch of dirt that I had dug a hole into. I'd create a dirt channel with barriers for the water to break through before it got to the man in the hole. I could do this 3 or 4 times before the sediment from the barriers totally covered the man, (after the water had dried up). There was no one else around so I played it by myself, it was either that or hunt for grasshoppers in the tall, dry grass here at Grandma Bray's house in Tucson.
~ Dondi Jon
Oregon Mist
My recollection is that when I was a boy, it rained every day until I was eleven. When the sun came out, I had no idea what it was and I thought the world was coming to an end. That was back before we had TV and our radio reception wasn't all that dependable either. There were a few good programs, news, soap operas and lots of static. I used to put on my boots and my coat and build little dams in the ditch along the road. There wasn't a great amount of water in them and I could safely float my boats (actually little sticks) where the water puddled behind my dams and then breach the dams to allow the sticks to pass on to the next little pond. It wasn't much but it was a lot more fun than just watching it rain outside our window.
~ MK
Gender Identity
I suffered gender identity as a child. I wore my male cousin's hand me down's and was my father's only son. This gave the females in my life much undo alarm. Try as they may to force me into girl type endeavors I remained steadfast in my male roll. I was given feminine toys, dolls, doll buggy, doll bassinet and all things relating to female reproduction.
Given this, they were ecstatic when one sunny day I was seen zooming around pushing the dolly pram with wild abandon. Both mother and older half sister rushed out to educate me on proper ‘baby' care. Delighted that I had finally "come around" they peered in the pram to see my "babies", only to discover that the Baby Buggy was a high powder transport system for Horn Toads, Lizards and Guinea Pigs.
~Gin
Playing in the Woods
I used to occupy myself growing up with reading, running and playing in the woods. The vine maples would be leaning over to the ground and they would become bouncy "things" for me to play on for hours with my sisters.
~ Evie
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