Have You Ever

     Have you ever run around in the cool summer evening catching fireflies with your bare hands, have you ever walked in a field of grass to catch grass hoppers to use as fish bait ?
     As a young boy these were but a few activities that occupied my time. We didn't have air conditioning back then, the summers were hot and sticky even in the cool of the evening. We kids would spend most of our waking hours outdoors - scantily clad, barefoot and dripping with rivulets of sweat covering our bodies. We ran around yelling and screaming from dawn til way past dark, our parents impatiently waited for us to wind down so we could bathe and go to bed.
     We played children's games like Cowboys and Indians, Hide and Go Seek, Annie Over, King of the Hill and many more, they were games that got us outside and kept us active. We were skinny, knock kneed, had big ears, dirty faces, unkempt hair and grins from ear to ear. Our Moms did all they could to keep our bellies full but we were so active the calories we consumed were quickly burned away, baby fat was not a term often used in our neighborhood.
     During the day we rode bikes, climbed trees and slid down grass covered hills on pieces of cardboard. In quieter moments we lay on our backs in grass and clover covered lawns looking up at the clouds picking out shapes of animals and faces of people. We would pick the white long stemmed flower of the clover, tie them together to make wreaths, bracelets, chains, belts and necklaces. We captured June Bugs and tied thread to a leg and allowed them to fly about as if on a leash.
     We sat at windows watching a summer storm pelt the earth with large droplets of rain, patiently we waited for the storm to pass so we could go back outside and walk barefoot through warm puddles of fresh rain water. After a summer storm the rain drops took time to fall through the leaves and wash the dust away leaving an aroma of freshness to fill young lungs at play.
     When the nighttime came we punched holes in jar lids to allow air to enter mason jars that held the fireflies ( lightning bugs ) that we caught. We played Hide and Go Seek loudly yelling "you're it" when we tagged someone as we ran around in the dark. We raised our heads and looked into the night sky searching for the "Little Dipper" or the "North Star" among the millions of stars visible. We watched distant flashes of lightning in far away storm clouds.
     Have you ever spent time on a farm ? I got to spend my summers with my Grandpa and Granny Riggan on their farm. Grandpa was a farmer of the old school, he had no combustible engine powered machines, he used mules to pull his plows, his bare hands to milk his cows and the muscles  of  his lean body to toss around bales of hay to feed his animals.
     The farm was old, it had been a long time since the house had seen a coat of paint, the tin roof was rusty. The foundation was large rocks set at the corners allowing cool air to flow beneath the house. The steps were large thick stones worn smooth over the years by countless bare feet and shoes. I guess the place wasn't much to look at but to a young boy it was a whole new world filled with discovery and adventure.
     Walking barefoot through a farm yard was not like walking through clover, if you were not careful you might step in something squishy only to look down and see oozing chicken poop between your toes. The "peeping" sounds of newborn chickens would catch your attention as they foraged for bits of food or scampered for the protection of the mother hens wings.
     Have you ever walked barefoot behind a team of mules as they plowed furrows of fresh earth or maybe you rode them bareback listening to your Grandfather guide them along with "gee's and haw's" ? Have you ever played in the hayloft of a barn building forts and tunnels from bales of hay or climbed high in an apple tree to pick apples and eat them while white clouds floated overhead in a blue sky ? Have you ever gone down on your knees and lapped cool clean water from a stream as it meandered through shadowy woods or chased grasshoppers in a field of tall hay ? Have you ever skipped stones across the calm waters of a pond or lake ?
     No, I don't suppose you have done any of these things because they were a way of life from a time of long ago, a time of my youth, a time when life was a little more relaxed and enjoyable.
     I wish you could have been there when life was carefree when all kids had to worry about was how much longer they could stay outside and play before it was bedtime.
     Some say technology is robbing the kids today of their youth, I think this may be true. But then again it could be that video games, computers and cellphones are the new "Cowboys and Indians" or "fireflies". At least you can go barefoot while playing a video game and you won't get dirt on your face after spending all day on a computer but it sounds like a lonely way to grow up, how sad.