My Childhood Journey
Growing up in Lake Heights... ahhh. . . what a perfect neighborhood. Oh, I don't mean it was a ritzy place or that any of us were financially well off. But we were rich in friendships at the clothesline, ball games in the vacant lot, homemade ice cream in the back yard, evening Hide and Seek and Kick the Can. . .
We had a creek in Lake Heights. A great place for catching crawdads and exploring. Down the hill on the corner was a small patch of woods; we called it Sherwood Forest. It was once a place where piles of coal were kept. Having grown up and into a bit of a wild place, it was full of trees and little hills where kids could pretend all sorts of adventures.
There's the key...pretend. We sure knew how to play. To get dirty and sweaty, clothes grass- stained and maybe a little bit torn. Sandpiles and army men, tetherball and hopscotch. Jacks, pick-up sticks and string tricks. Briar cuts and splinters, bandaids and Bactine. Lovely!
A bicycle was a necessity of life. Not that we didn't use roller skates, skate-boards, skooters and sleds. We did it all. I even had a pogo stick and stilts. But the bicycle was our ticket to the world beyond our own yards. It took us down the block, later to other neighborhoods, and then across town. Eventually, we got a car, and soon drove out of Lake Heights not to return except for visits.
I have lots of memories of friends and school mates. Larry, (the boy next door), Clifton, Sue, Darlene, Debbie, and another Debbie. Some are now gone from us. In my memories they live on: Jimmy, Steve, Kevin, Don & Velma, Ruth, Cecil and Lanora (my parents), Fritz & Beulah. I have recently re-connected with Debbie T. one of my first friends in Lake Heights. We go WA-A-Y back!
Nostalgia -
Books I have loved
Reading has always been a favorite pasttime of mine. Recently, I have been interested in digging out some of my old childhood books, and hunting in book shops for others that I would like to have again.
A few years ago, while looking through old books in an antique mall in Wisconsin Dells, I was overjoyed to find a copy of a Robinson Crusoe for children exactly like one we had when I was a child. The beautiful illustrations filled me with nostalgia.
Since then I have been hunting for others that I remember fondly. Here is a condensed list of books that I look forward to introducing my grandchildren to:
- Charlottes Web
- The Poppyseed Cakes
- A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh
- The Black Stallion Books
- Beautiful Joe
- The Velveteen Rabit
- Heidi (Wonder Book)
- Little House in The Big Woods
- Johnny Tremain
- The Call of the Wild