the old neighborhood

When I was little, there were lots of kids in the neighborhood. There seemed to be kids behind every rock and tree. We had a huge yard at 2624 Scenic Highway, and kids seemed to gravitate toward our place. We had loads of pine trees for a good game of hide and seek. We would make forts with loads of harvested pine straw from our huge yard.  We also had an unlimited supply of pine cone grenade in times of war.  We also had various degrees of hilly slopes. We had a perfect slope for sliding down on card board boxes or playing King of the Hill. We had great slopes for riding bicycles - some for only but the brave. You needed a good bike chain because you were going to need it.

We also had a nice flat area where we played a lot of baseball. That's where you'd find dad out there playing with his children, as well as any kid passing by.   Dad would sit on a stool and handle a bat with one arm. He'd hit some and let one of the little ones be his legs to run the bases. Thinking about it takes me back to one of those sunny Sunday afternoons.  It's now a long time ago.

What ever happened to the neighborhood?  Nobody knows one another like they used to. Not as many kids.  Maybe most of them have been aborted or something.  Where are all the children?   If Katie wants to play outside - she goes outside and plays on her swing set.  Katie and Kelsey often play with each other - but they don't have anyone in the neighborhood their own age to play. Then again, I don't like the idea of seeing my twelve year old walking down the block and turning the corner from my sight. It's not the same world today. I miss what we once had.   I wish that my kids had what we had as kids.