OT: Something you miss from summers you had when you were young

[husky429]

Basketball in the park. Basically all I did.

I used to walk around with a basletball covered with a plastic grocery bag constantly. I think the dribbling glove industry lobbied the state hard to get rid of plastic grocery bags

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Being able to swim/wade in any lake/river without turning colors. Could also drink the water without fear, if thirsty enough.

Depending on how old you are, rivers and some lakes were much more polluted back then than they are now.

 

[RichZ]

Summer when I was a kid.
Pretty much every day in the summer from 10 years old on, it was hop on the bike and head out to Pleasure Beach Island to go fishing. One year, I went out almost every day with an old man who ran trot lines through "the gut" for eels. He'd work his trotlines and I'd fish for the occasional flounder off the back of the boat. Learned a lot about how fish relate to weather and water conditions that summer.
That ended the summer that I was 15, and the opposite sex and basketball became much, much more important than fishing. Not coincidentally, I'd grown from 5-8 to over 6 feet in a little less than a year preceding that summer.
And the next summer I started work on my first hot rod. (SB Chevy in a '52 Henry J)

 

[Excalibur]

2 weeks every summer at my uncle’s house in Montauk. He and his sons built it themselves in the early 80’s. We wouldn’t have been able to afford a yearly vacation otherwise.

Sadly, they sold in 2002 while I was in law school. None of their kids were interested in buying it. Had it been 2 years later I would have borrowed the money to keep it, and it would have been the best investment I ever made.

 

[Mr. French]

Basically everything?

 

[Griggs]

Swimming at the Recreation Camp (a.k.a. The Rec} in Derby in the morning then playing baseball across the street at Lakeview Terrace in the afternoon.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The common theme in most of these that I miss the most is just coming up with ways to have fun with nothing but your friends and your imagination. My kids' generation really missed out on that. They are mystified by the idea of pre-internet life.

We used to go to Nantucket every summer back when my middle class parents could still rent a place for a week or two. Those are some of my best memories, staking out a spot for the ferry in Hyannis, playing wiffle ball on the beach and body surfing all day, then steaming some lobsters and eating them outside after an outdoor shower. I remember I was fascinated by the idea of a "corked bat" so I tried to cork a wiffle ball bat and then covered it with an entire roll of some fancy electrical tape my dad had in the garage. I still joke with him about how he flipped out when he got home that I had used up all the tape. Bat was a weapon though. Murdered a tennis ball.

My grandfather was a carpenter and built a cottage down in Old Saybrook - Cornfield Point I guess? - that's long been torn down. But I remember getting up early to ride my bike with my pops to get Egg McMuffins and then go crabbing all morning, then hitting the beach and waiting for the Vecchittos truck to roll up. I was a watermelon fan back then but now I'm strictly almond.

Being a kid back then was great.

 

[gtcam]

I feel sorry for kids these days - we had so much freedom in the 60s and early 70s
The cell phone has played a huge part - kids cannot stay off it long enough to do what we did.
But then again, I 'm sure I wouldn't want them to do some of the things we used to do.
I was driving around my old childhood neighborhood in Vernon the other day and all our hardball fields are now peoples homes, our special soccer field is now a Walgreens parking lot, the streams have dried up due to suburban sprawl, the small gas stations and convenient shops are gone......................................

 

[Deepster]

One of the things I have done with my teams for years is ask them "What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?" We then go around the table much like this thread has gone so far.

Then I tie it up at the end to say "Most of what everyone said they loved doing as a kid? You can still do it today. So why don't you?" Riding bikes, hiking, swimming at the beach, fishing, not being tied to a phone, leaving the house in the morning and not coming back until dark.

The key to happiness is to really identify what makes you happy.....then go and do it.

 

[Spaceman213J]

The common theme in most of these that I miss the most is just coming up with ways to have fun with nothing but your friends and your imagination. My kids' generation really missed out on that. They are mystified by the idea of pre-internet life.

It's funny you mention the lack of imagination in today's youth. I run a Lego Club at the school I work at and all of the kids are incredibly intelligent and almost all of them are in the TAG program, but it amazed me the lack of imagination most of them have. They are smart, well-mannered and respectful, but lacking in imagination.

And to save from another post,

I forgot to mention going to Fenway, Riverside (now six flags) and Quassapaug

 

[storrsroars]

Depending on how old you are, rivers and some lakes were much more polluted back then than they are now.

And that's why I have a great immune system. Used to actually skinnydip in Norwalk Harbor.

That said, the reason I never got my NAUI certification was I thought all testing would be done in the pool. I was passing with flying colors up to the point of the final test - which was done in open water off Stratford/Bridgeport. My partners were usually horrible at giving me back the regulator in the pool, but I could live with that. In LI Sound with visibility of less than 10 feet, I was not taking the chance of sucking in that crappy water.

 

[storrsroars]

The more I think about this, it's not just that technology has stifled what we olds consider imagination, it's parents and litigation that have had significant effect.

I had two friends from the block with whom we did everything together. Lots of it was normal 60s childhood stuff. Some of it would result in lawsuits today. There was a place on the other side of the tracks from the Springdale train station we used to call the "sandpits ".It was supposed to be off limits, although none of us remember any specific signage. That's where clandestine kissing often occured. It's all developed now, but back then there were several large abandoned and rusted out machines that made for great climbing spots. Sure we all got small cuts that probably could've developed into tetanus, but we didn't care. If we got hurt, it was us being stupid, not the equipment's fault. That wouldn't be the case today. Whomever left that crap there would be sued to high heaven.

There was a lot of residential construction going on in Springdale as well. And we used to play in all the construction sites. OneAn time we actually took a pile of cinder blocks, threw them all into the foundation hole and built a basement w/o mortar. That had to be aggravating for the construction crew. But the best was when a basketball court was being built across from the old civil defense building (which had our neighborhood bomb shelter). There was a steamshovel and a backhoe left on the small plot over the weekend. We started those suckers up and learned what all the controls did. And then we couldn't figure out how to shut the steamshovel off so we just left it running till the gas ran out. I have no idea if kids even try that kind of stuff today, but I'd imagine if a 12 year old could start up your unguarded backhoe in 2025 and give it a test drive, your construction company is getting sued, not the kid or his parents.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

The more I think about this, it's not just that technology has stifled what we olds consider imagination, it's parents and litigation that have had significant effect.

I had two friends from the block with whom we did everything together. Lots of it was normal 60s childhood stuff. Some of it would result in lawsuits today. There was a place on the other side of the tracks from the Springdale train station we used to call the "sandpits ".It was supposed to be off limits, although none of us remember any specific signage. That's where clandestine kissing often occured. It's all developed now, but back then there were several large abandoned and rusted out machines that made for great climbing spots. Sure we all got small cuts that probably could've developed into tetanus, but we didn't care. If we got hurt, it was us being stupid, not the equipment's fault. That wouldn't be the case today. Whomever left that crap there would be sued to high heaven.

There was a lot of residential construction going on in Springdale as well. And we used to play in all the construction sites. OneAn time we actually took a pile of cinder blocks, threw them all into the foundation hole and built a basement w/o mortar. That had to be aggravating for the construction crew. But the best was when a basketball court was being built across from the old civil defense building (which had our neighborhood bomb shelter). There was a steamshovel and a backhoe left on the small plot over the weekend. We started those suckers up and learned what all the controls did. And then we couldn't figure out how to shut the steamshovel off so we just left it running till the gas ran out. I have no idea if kids even try that kind of stuff today, but I'd imagine if a 12 year old could start up your unguarded backhoe in 2025 and give it a test drive, your construction company is getting sued, not the kid or his parents.

I think we were considered Glenbrook but I loved living on Hope St years ago. The wife and I bought our first condo next to the Bob’s/Shop Rite plaza. If we didn’t feel like making dinner there were about 15 places to pick from that were 2 min away. Although we usually ended up at either Jimmys Seaside or Vinny’s Backyard.

 

[UConnRock]

I miss the absence of technology. The joy and creativity of entertaining ourselves outside for hours thinking that our parents had no idea what we were doing. The simplicity of fun, laughing, and playing without a care.

 

[TerryBoyz]

Summer concerts?
lake compounce had a good 3- 4 year run with some epic summertime concerts. Steve miller band Jimmy buffet.
Then Dave Matthew’s at the meadows.
Lalalpalooza and a few more I forget.

 

[DW1361]

My mother was a day camp nurse for the summary migratory program. All day long I got to have fun playing with kids doing all sorts of camp activities and then on the evenings and weekends we had the whole camp to ourselves. Best summers of my life.

 

[storrsroars]

I think we were considered Glenbrook but I loved living on Hope St years ago. The wife and I bought our first condo next to the Bob’s/Shop Rite plaza. If we didn’t feel like making dinner there were about 15 places to pick from that were 2 min away. Although we usually ended up at either Jimmys Seaside or Vinny’s Backyard.

I don't know how long you lived in Stamford, but was wondering if you remembered the huge chemical plant fire in the late 60s where Riverbend Dr S is today. Took three years for the smell to go away. While we used to play on the train tracks regularly, we never went over there after the fire. Even as dumb kids we knew there was bad stuff percolating in there.

Now that I think about it, from late '86 to mid '88 I rented the first floor of a house on Elm Terrace, so we could've been neighbors!

 

[Gampel91]

Being 8 years old and the only rule was “when those street lights come on, you better be on your way home”.

Oh and riding our bikes to the Food Bag across town to get a 29 cent Big Gulp or whatever they were calling it.

 

[dvegas]

Since its the 4th of July and this thread is waxing nostalgic, anyone planning on losing a few fingers or blowing out an eye with some fireworks tonight?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Being 8 years old and the only rule was “when those street lights come on, you better be on your way home”.

Oh and riding our bikes to the Food Bag across town to get a 29 cent Big Gulp or whatever they were calling it.

Ah, the old GYAITMFHRNBIBYA

 

[Chin Diesel]

Since its the 4th of July and this thread is waxing nostalgic, anyone planning on losing a few fingers or blowing out an eye with some fireworks tonight?

 

[huskymedic]

Since its the 4th of July and this thread is waxing nostalgic, anyone planning on losing a few fingers or blowing out an eye with some fireworks tonight?

Old school but found memories of Roman Candle tag w/ my cousins in the side lot off our house in our early teens. Many years in the making and nobody lost a body part/life altering burn. It was the climax of the family 4th of July festivities.

 

[Gampel91]

Ah, the old GYAITMFHRNBIBYA

I’m very proud that I got that right off the bat.

 

[prankster]

I grew up in a family that was very loving and though we didn't have a ton of money, summers were always a blast.

One thing I miss a lot was playing Jarts or lawn darts. I remember having to wait until I was old enough and then loved it. I would play with my parents, brother, uncles and cousins.

I know they are banned in the U.S. now. I wish they would unban them. Is there anyone who can explain to my why they are banned, but I can drive 20 minutes and go to a place and drink and throw axes in a public venue?

 

[UCTitleTown]

Those fireworks you lit and they turned into long black snakes. I was easily entertained.