Throwing Lawn Darts at them. The real ones. Etc.

setting small fires, working in the garden, helping my grandma make noodles.

Last edited Thu Apr 9, 2026, 01:39 PM - Edit history (1)

And then there was to cottage.

There was a huge field behind our house (now all developed) that ran up to a woods. It had a stone bed (where we would occasionally find fossils), a little hill that ran down to twin ponds that sometimes connected after it rained and where we would build rafts, and the shell of an old barn where we could make forts. We also played Lost in Space in the barn, though that was mostly because we had friends who liked the show, and sometimes we played what we called "olden days". There were four sets of sisters all the same ages - so me and my three friend and our four sisters, all two years younger.

Some combination of us was out in that field almost all day every day.

and looking for spring wildflowers in the nearby woods

were what I was told to do, but I was more interested in hiking and playing baseball .

with my friends.

Yep water baby for my life.

Loved watching him as a 2 year old diving off of the diving board. TY Prairie Seagull for bringing back those memories.

... and planting a garden. I didn't much like the weeding and later garden activities, but planting was fun.

seedlings in the seed planters in the garage. Still a little too cold to plant outside.

Of course, there was that time Lance Christiansen hit me in the head with a bat, but every hobby has it’s down sides.

Mrs. Sogard (the fourth grade teacher who had also taught my older brother and sister) called my mother. It went like this:

Mrs. Sogard: Mrs. Sharp? This is Genevieve B. Sogard. Bobby’s been hit in the head with a bat.

Mom (sounding like Schwartz’s mother regarding the f word): WHAT?WHAT? ^%#~*+%#}]|>€!!!

Mrs.,Sogard: Would you like me to drive him home?

Mom(somewhat calmer): Yes, please ( or words to that effect).


So GBS loaded me into her Caddy, and drove me home. Mom put me in bed and called the doctor, who came by-and-by, and pronounced that I had a fractured skull, and to keep me quiet in a dark room.

I guess it worked. That was 61 years ago, and I’m still here.

Hopscotch, playing 7UP against the rear wall of my house and riding my bike down back alleys and through the cemetery/ GOOD TIMES!