Looking back.....

        You won't hear me call them 'The good 'ole days'.  Maybe
less stressful days.  They were tough days compared to todays
standards.  Well for me anyway.  Yea we had chores and such
but that was just expected.  I'm talking just everyday things like
playing and going to school.  We didn't get 'rides' to the playground
or parks.. If we wanted to get there we rode our bikes. and not the
fifteen speed ultra lightweight mountain bikes either.  I doubt many
kids these days could pick up one of my bikes let alone pedal it up
the hills we had to travel.  Our playground was up in the woods behind
our house.  We had trails all over the woods.  Our swing sets were
monkey vines.  Our see saws were old logs.  We played army, picked
wildflowers and ate what berries we could find.. some we probably
shouldn't have.  Falls were common.. scrapes were inevitable and
broken bones always a possibility.  But we survived.
      Going to school was sometimes an adventure as well.   Down the
hill.. through the alley and a couple blocks down the street in all
kinds of weather. Very few snow days back then.  If you could make
it there they had class.  At least I didn't have to rely on buses I guess. 
Although some days I would have welcomed a ride.  For us it was
put bread wrappers on your feet under your boots.. bundle up and
break a trail !   I may have sneaked  onto a bus a couple times later
in my high school career but that was just to spend a couple extra
minutes with a pretty young lady.   The rest of the time it was Left
right left all the way home.
      What brought about all of this nostalgia ?  Driving home from
the store the other day I kinda took the long way around trying to
shake some of the cabin fever out of my system.  And as I sometimes
do I just kinda let my mind run free for a while.  (not really a wise thing)
Having just bought chips at the store I was reminded of shopping
trips with my parents when I was small and how I would always ask
for chips.  Every now and then Mom would give in and buy a small
bag and I remember always saying....no.. get the big eighty nine cent
bag !  They'll last forever!  This after just paying almost four dollars
for a bag half that size a few moments ago.
      I'm not sure how widespread this company was but we used to
have a truck come up our rural road run by the Jewel Tea Company.
Kinda a Fuller Brush guy only without the brushes..lol   I distinctly
remember a large tin can full of chips that we got a couple times
(probably when his visit coincided with Dad's payday)  If I remember
right I think they were Dan Dee chips.  I don't remember what else we
got from that truck but I do remember those.  I see those large cans in
antique stores from time to time and my mouth still waters.
      The times they are a changing.  Today kids have cell phones to
keep in touch with their parents.. we just had trust. As pre-teens we
would hop on our bikes, ride into town, buy a can of corn for bait with
money from collected pop bottles go to the river and fish all day.  We
came home when we got hungry.  lol  With all the crazy things going
on now days that's not very realistic.  That's sad.  I wonder what it will
be like in forty years?  My great grand kids will probably be riding their
armored hover crafts to a protected enclosed 'play station module' and
sitting in virtual reality plush seats eating their sixty dollar a bag chips
pretending to swing on monkey vines in the woods.. all without lifting
a finger....      Ahhhh Progress..............