I live in the country and neighbors are not real close, I don't have a lot of time to sit out, but in the summer I am out a lot. My daughter and I put out a huge garden. I mostly ride on my big rig, golf cart, with my Izzi. She is a red orange pom. She loves to ride on it. Not a good idea to just let her run around loose as there are coyotes. I am almost 79 years old.

Sue in Central Indiana where it is now 6 above!

Just a hair above 0 F. today ... but it is sunny, and it's developing some warmth.

If I spend much time outdoors these days ...

... my teeth'll chatter ...

... oh, yeah - what teeth? You got the last of 'em out a couple of weeks ago, remember?

I remember - stopped this morning for coffee with a neighbour of 40 years ago ... he offered me coffee and some snacks.

Thin (rice-based?) biscuit, fine. But a square ... hard to navigate ... some slobbering ... Ggrrr-r-r.

The mouth is getting less tender, at least.

How about some soup, you old fart?

o j

jOur society has really changed and I can comment on it from the perspective of living in many many communities over many years. So many people live by a 'speeded up clock'. Most homeowners are two income families... watching their clock.... kids have all these organized things that they participate in.... watching the clock.... Even playtime in the park, taking a walk in the neighborhood... is by the clock (we have 20 minutes before....?) And most folks just try to get everything done in their 16 to 18 hour day.
Retirement.... oh my gosh.... the clock still seems demanding most days (especially when much older and infirm)... every thing takes 3 times longer, the weather impacts older folks more... stay out of the sun due to medications.... the gardening that used to take an hour, now takes 3 days... as does shopping, preparing meals, cleaning, bathing. All of us 'ruled' by a speeded up clock moreso (is that a word?) today than ever before. (JMHO)

Nanny, more so is two words, but you are absolutely correct in your posting - I am 63 and things that seemed to NEED to be done (not that long ago) I've discovered really don't need to be done in a rush, if at all!

As a boy, I lived in southern IL. In the sumer, my life was filled with a lot of activity pertaining to food production. We bought very little prepared foods. After hoeing the graden, picking blackberries, pealing peaches, and slicing cabbage to make sour kraut, I did have a few spare moments, and this is what I did:

A small river was located 1/4 mile from the house. A lot leisure time was spent there swimming and fishing. Fishing is a big time killer. The opposite side of the river was fully forested and home to many squirrels.

In the winter, I had a home made rabbit trap and did manage to live catch a couple of rabbits one winter. Late spring was the season for kite flying, I made my kites at almost no cost. The sticks were hollow reeds, the covering was newspaper or butcher paper is I wanted to build a stronger kit for strong winds. Naturally, there was drawer full of saved string on the back porch and the glue was water and flour. After the kite was made and the 'glue' dried, a trip was made to the rag bag to select suitable cloth for the tail. Thin strips of cloth was ripped and tied together. Spare strip of cloth went into my jacket pocket for making adjustments tot he tail. There had to be enough tail to keep the kite upright, but as little tail as possible. The tail represented dead weight and affected how high the kite could fly.

In winter, attending grade school occupied most of my waking hours. It was located 2 miles from our house, so each school day included two hikes of 2 miles in all kinds of weather. After walking home from school, there was wood to split for the kitchen stove and taking in wood to stoke the main heating stove. the cows had to be milked, fed, and put into stalls for the night. After the evening meal was done and the dishes washed, there wasn't much time left before bedtime. On some days, I did minimal amount of school homework. As a rule, we did not bring school work home.

Life was simple; Life was hard, but it was accepted since it was the only existence we knew; To the extent of our knowledge, this was normal.

I spend a great deal of warm weather outside puttering in my flower beds and on the porch sitting with any neighbor who comes by who wants to sit a spell and visit.

I hate being cold, but envious of all who can go outside in this bitter cold snowy weather and feel the exhilaration of the cold crisp air and the sting of the wind on your face while speeding down a hill on a sled, or ski slope. These days, the cold just makes what muscle strength I have left disappear.

Growing up in a tiny coal mining town all kids spent hours in the coldest weather sledding on church hill, ice skating at the mule pond, or otherwise enjoying the outdoors. When we got cold enough, anyone's home was fair game to get a cup of cocoa and sit by the fire to warm up a bit.

Warm weather was spent mostly outdoors. What wonderful memories my playmates and I have of roller skating on main street, of making "cabins" and "forts" in the wild grapevines in the woods. Picking wild berries for mom's to bake pies, a pickup game of ball, hide and seek or run sheep run after dark followed by camping out in someone's back yard. More often than not someone's older brother would manage to scare the bejeebers out of us during the night.

Would that every kid had the luxury of growing up in a tight small town neighborhood where the streets are safe for all to experience the outdoors to the fullest. Unfortunately, I think we would have to remove all the electronic gadgets from their hands and push them outside and lock the door so they can't come back in.

In the warmer weather, I sit out on my front porch and watch neighbors walk their dogs. Some just say "Hi" and others chat a bit. This also happens if I am watering my trees or mowing my lawn. Iowans are friendly.

My growing up was so like most of those posted, and I grew up IN San Francisco. In a valley where the Cow Palace lives, and it was "country". There was a dairy on a hillside, and a "lot".on the other hillside.. not like any "feed lot" of today, but cowboys would drive the cattle a mile or so from the train station (no clue what for) and take care of them there for awhile with their horses and ropes. We had fields of turnips (I remember pulling up and eating them, dirt and all at times). We had a playground near the "lot" with lots of scrubby plants and brush that we had forts and make believe "whatever" that we could imagine. That "clock?" I posted about yesterday???? Well, the only clock I remember from childhood is the one that got us moving to school in the morning (and I didn't know it was a clock...just that the day had begun)... going home was just another time to explore our world around us. When the sun was going down, our stomachs told us it was time to go home where Mom or Dad would be fixing our dinner. (WWII and two breadwinners in a family was not unusual.

I do not remember ever being afraid of 'strangers' and as we got a bit older we used the city transportation system to attend school, even elementary, and to travel all over the city for all kinds of events, parks, swimming, museums, zoo, movies, ice and roller skating. We did those thing at very little cost, had monthly bus passes for school as well as events.

Which is a whole other subject that is dear to my heart...... that is how those kinds of activities now days are so costly for the poor of our society. For me, it came with the community (village) that was raising me, and is too often forgotten.

we rarely use the backyard, or deck...as for the front never. we're on a 40 mpr street! we do outside stuff with one ds...and for sure we have more than enough dgds soccer, girls baseball games!