Down At The Old Swimmin' Hole - Childhood Memories

[jaguarr]

So, this is a thread for folks to share some of their fondest childhood memories. I'll start with one of mine to get the ball rolling.


When I was around 10 years old or so, it used to get really freakin' hot in the summer time. We lived in kind of a rural area, so there wasn't any swimming pool for us to go to. There was, however, a natural watering hole out in a local pasture, complete with a waterfall, that all the kids in the area used to gather at. There were probably a good 20-30 kids at that thing at any given time. We'd take our lunches and spend the entire day there, diving in the pool, having water fights, throwing mudballs at each other and just having a great time in general. I remember the day we set up a rope swing off of a tree limb. The kid that climbed the tree to hang the rope actually fell out of it climbing back down and broke his arm. We wouldn't let him leave until we made him promise to tell his Mom that he broke it climbing down from one of the neighbor's treehouses because we knew she'd see to it none of us ever got to hang out at the swimming hole again if she knew where he'd REALLY broken his arm at. Thinking back on simpler times and experiences like this in my life; the warm sun warming me up from the chilly water, hanging out with all my friends at the time and enjoying the summer while we had it before we had to go back to school always makes me smile. It also reminds me of how life is meant to be enjoyed and experienced and that's something that I try to do to this day.

So what are some of your fondest memories from your childhood?

jag

 

[passerby]

There is already a thread like this.

 

[jaguarr]

There is already a thread like this.

No, there is not.

jag

 

[passerby]

http://www.superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227154

It was my thread. Not worded the same, but the same topic. Yours will probably be successful because nobody likes me.

 

[jaguarr]

http://www.superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227154

It was my thread. Not worded the same, but the same topic. Yours will probably be successful because nobody likes me.

Kind of similar. I thought you might be referring to the 90's kids thread. Search is still FUBAR so I wasn't able to even look to see what had already been done.

jag

 

[jaguarr]

Damn, no one has any childhood memories? Buncha freakin' clones!

jag

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

I've got so many that I can't choose one, so I'll do the Cliff's notes.

- hosing down the dirt field next to our apartment when I was in kindergarten/first grade and making mud dams, rivers, caves and mountains for our Planet of the Apes and Evel Knievel dolls to battle in.

- Terrified but sneaking in anyway to explore the bat infested tool shed and empty grain silo on my Grandpa's farm.

- Playing doctor with,like dozens of little Mexican girls. Little kids are PERVS.

- My parents were hippies so there were always insane parties. This cop had a crush on my Mom and he'd come over, navigate through the thick marijuana haze and politely ask them to turn down the music and stay indoors every weekend. That was how I had my first capful of beer.

- Upstairs on the right was a guy that raced this insane wicked Hot Rod, before a race, he'd have it parked on the grass and everyone would gather around while he revved it up which scared the s*** out of me but was cool.

- Upstairs on the left was where the leader of some weird long-hair druggie gang lived. They had an old door set up in the back yard where they would practice throwing knives. One night, like out of a bad movie, they were rallying before going to "rumble" with some rivals. They made a mini-bonfire, they were all drinking and yelling, talking about how they were gonna kick some ass, and all the neighbors were terrified, locked their doors and turned off their lights. It was all very exciting to me and I was pissed that I was just a little kid.

I was also pissed at my youth because I was in freaking love with the leader's hot blonde girlfriend who worshipped me ( but just because I was an "adorable little mascot" kid ). Her name was "Honey". *sigh*

- Our parents let us go play at the playground alone one summer, but we mainly just looked at this little plastic thing where you'd look through and see a picture of a naked lady. We were all fighting over this little thing.

- Music has always been my greatest joy besides loved ones. I'd ask my parents to put on Jethro Tull, Yes, Seals and Croft, Gary Wright, etc. and I'd stare into the mouth of the empty 8 Track, which looked exactly like a tiny, futuristic chrome city, with all the spindles and crap.
Also, when kids were playing games I didn't dig (usually involving a ball), I loved swinging by myself and singing songs to myself....my big memory is of singing "Big Ol' Jed and Elina", which I thought was a song by Steve Miller about this kid who wanted to stay with his parents, but his Uncle Jed and Aunt Elina were going to take him away to live with them.
Of course the song is actually "Big Ol' JET AIRLINER", stupid.

LOL, best childhood.

 

[Carter]

swimmin hole? are you like 80 years old?

 

[jaguarr]

swimmin hole? are you like 80 years old?

No, but I'm not 19 either.

jag

 

[The Last Meatbag]

-Trading Pokemon cards with friends (I know its nerdy but it was cool for an 8 year old )
-Waking up at six in the morning about every saturday and watching Kids WB cartoons
-My first trip to Disneyland
-Me going to the pool, swimming and playing for hours, then going back home and watching old nick shows (Are you afraid of the dark, legends of the hidden temple, double dare)
-Me playing cops and robbers with my neighbors on our bikes
-Me having cap gun shoot outs with my neighbors
-Me as the white ranger on halloween
-Me taking out the school bully
....thats all I can really think of

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

-Me taking out the school bully

Like, to Dairy Queen?

 

[The Last Meatbag]

Like, to Dairy Queen?

like, me smacking two big wooden building blocks in his face

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

hardcore.

 

[The Last Meatbag]

And funny

 

[D.Rex]

I have a million but here's a few memorable ones.

There was a lot of construction in my neighborhood so me, my friend and my brother all used to sneak around into houses being built (one time my brother Matt found 40$) and play on the construction equipment. Several times the cops would drive by usually loking for someone else as my neighborhood was full of crime but sometimes looking for us. We'd always run and hide from the police as we thought we'd be in huge trouble for being caught in these no trespassing areas.

My mother always used to take us to the beach so that is a very memorable place for me. One time a basking shark came swimming up to shore. That was the largest living thing I've ever seen. I was amazed.

I had one of those red plastic playskool wagons. We used to race them down this huge hill. Can't even count the scars from crashing.

Playing video games non stop. And watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Getting into fights with other kids. I've had millions of little scuffles my first was in first grade.I punched this kid Anthony in the head after he tackled me because I didn't want to use the swings. This kid Chris who was like 11 in 1st grade was on my side so we won. My father asked me two things about it. First was did you start it. I answered no. Then did you win. I said yes. So he says then we don't have a problem.

Playing football non stop. I have my dad to thank for teaching how to play my favorite sport that helped pay for college.

Fireworks on 4th of July. That was a big thing in my neighborhood. My friend's father would get a bunch fireworks so we would light them off all that week.

And finally playing with my dinosaur toys. I admit I was a dinosaur nerd. I knew and still know just about everything there is to know about dinosaurs.

 

[Daisy]

I have to admit I had a pretty idyllic childhood. Then I hit 15 and it all when to crap. Then, of course, I hit 25 and things started looking up again.

Anyway....

I grew up in a small town so it was very safe and my parents didn't really pay all that much attention to us as long as we came home for lunch (if mom hadn't sent us off with some 'picnic'), dinner and bedtime.

Firstly, we had a great block, with a bunch of kids all about the same age. In the summer, we would play kick-the-can every night with all the neighbor kids (there's be about 10-15 of us). Because we lived up and down the block, we had a whole 1/2 block to hide in... anything on 'our side' of the alley was in-bounds. My family lived in the middle of the block, so the 'can' was in our yard. We probably would have used the whole block if it weren't for the fact that a witch lived in the house directly across the alley from my family's, and we were all sure the that it was haunted (in truth she was just a mean old lady, but hey - we were kids).

We also used to put on 'variety shows' in my back yard. It was really big and had a hill with some steps built into it, three huge pine trees in the back, as well as an outdoor cellar entrance. We made use of all of the for various 'events' like a haunted 'house' tour. I remember putting together choreography for all sorts of things like Copacabana (I was Lola), Ease on Down the Road (from the Wiz) and lots of other things. We'd also have 'acrobatic' exhibitions.

My friends and I also used to play Charlie's Angels. We always made my little brother be Bosely, which entailed sitting on the front porch waiting for us to 'check in' while we rode off on our bikes after the bad guys.

Also, once we were old enough to ride bikes, we were allowed to ride out to Pebble Beach (no, not that Pebble Beach - I'm from Minnesota) to go swimming. It was probably about a mile, but it felt like miles to us. It was a public beach and there were lifeguards and all, but even better, there was a concessions stand that sold cotton candy YEAR-ROUND. We were always thrilled because otherwise the only time we'd get it was when the county fair came.

The County Fair was a whole 'nother experience. Living in a small rural town it was the thing you looked forward to ALL YEAR - not just the rides and games, but also because of Machinery Hill (which was old farm implements) and the tractor pull!

Another great memory from my childhood was riding bike around town with my dad. We would ride up around Lake Alice and stop and feed the ducks and geese (my dad would bring old bread), and then on the way home, we'd stop at Dairyland (local version of Dairy Queen) for a cone.

My family and I also used to go bird-watching together. We'd drive out on all these old country roads (my favorite was Whiskey Road, named for it's utility durring Prohibition) and stop at little slews and marches and watch birds.

Every Sunday after church we'd go out to my Great Aunt and Uncles. In the summer this was 'at the lake' where we'd swim, canoe, fish and where my uncle occasionally let use drive the speed-boat! Sometimes, my parents would let me ride into town with my Great Aunt and Uncle, and we'd always stop at Dairy Queen (yep, we had both Dairyland and Dairy Queen - on the North and South sides of town, respectively) In the winter we'd go out to their house on the outskirts of town. My Great Aunt would have a large assortment of cookies, and they had a great furnished basement with the woodstove. Also their yard had a FABULOUS sledding hill. In the winter we'd go sliding, then come in and warm up by the woodstove with hot chocolate. They also had this wonderful full-size tri-color collie named Mac. He always kept an eye on us kids when we were outside, and put his herding skills to use. If a stranger or a strange dog/animal came into the yard, he'd get between us and it and gently 'herd' us back to the house.

There's so much more... like for my 15th birthday, I had a sleep-over in a tent in my backyard with some girlfriends, and we went wandering about the town at 3 am. We felt like we were such rebels. Of course, in the morning, my dad asked us what we'd been up to in the night. We, of course, tried to say we'd been sleeping, but then dad said that Officer Kamrowski (one of the highway patrolmen that lived in town) had seen us walking down Vernon Avenue near 3 am, so we were busted.

That was the main drawback of a small town like mine. You couldn't get away with anything because everybody knew who's kid you were. It was okay though, because none of us had any desire to be 'bad' kids. In truth, I don't think any of us would have really known how to be 'bad' as to us, back-talking to our parents was the sign of a rebel.

Yep, I lived in the equivalent of Maybury. Sometimes, I miss it.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

We'd always run and hide from the police as we thought we'd be in huge trouble for being caught in these no trespassing areas.

Dude. Four friends and I were arrested for exploring an old burned out school and while we were hiding in the ruins the f***ers released German Shepherds! So running and hiding was wise.

Yes, I too was blessed with tons of construction sites when I was a kid, and many abandoned buildings. Shame I wasn't a LARP-freak 'cause we had dungeons, tunnels, underground pools galore.

 

[SLVRSR4]

-Trading Pokemon cards with friends (I know its nerdy but it was cool for an 8 year old )
-Waking up at six in the morning about every saturday and watching Kids WB cartoons
-My first trip to Disneyland
-Me going to the pool, swimming and playing for hours, then going back home and watching old nick shows (Are you afraid of the dark, legends of the hidden temple, double dare)
-Me playing cops and robbers with my neighbors on our bikes
-Me having cap gun shoot outs with my neighbors
-Me as the white ranger on halloween
-Me taking out the school bully
....

thats all I can really think of

there is nothing wrong with liking pokemon we have all been there.

 

[Whirlysplat]

Dude. Four friends and I were arrested for exploring German Shepherds.

omitting words from peoples posts can be funny

- Whirly

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

Hahahawtf ^

We also used to put on 'variety shows' in my back yard. It was really big and had a hill with some steps built into it, three huge pine trees in the back, as well as an outdoor cellar entrance. We made use of all of the for various 'events' like a haunted 'house' tour. I remember putting together choreography for all sorts of things like Copacabana (I was Lola), Ease on Down the Road (from the Wiz) and lots of other things. We'd also have 'acrobatic' exhibitions.

My friends and I also used to play Charlie's Angels. We always made my little brother be Bosely, which entailed sitting on the front porch waiting for us to 'check in' while we rode off on our bikes after the bad guys.

LOL, cool.
Your name was Lola, you were a showgirl.

 

[Daisy]

there is nothing wrong with liking pokemon we have all been there.

Actually, all of us haven't. That doesn't mean, of course, that we don't have equally embarassing things in our past.

 

[D.Rex]

Dude. Four friends and I were arrested for exploring an old burned out school and while we were hiding in the ruins the f***ers released German Shepherds! So running and hiding was wise.

Yes, I too was blessed with tons of construction sites when I was a kid, and many abandoned buildings. Shame I wasn't a LARP-freak 'cause we had dungeons, tunnels, underground pools galore.

Oh we knew we'd get in trouble. The local cops didn't like us to begin with. But running from the cops and hiding was what made the whole thing memorable. One time when they rode real slow with their highbeams on. My friend richie and I dove behind to large concrete pipes but my brother who was in the open had no where to go so he hid in front seat of the bulldozer. Luckily the cops weren't looking for us and rode by. We laughed so hard about that later.

 

[Erzengel]

Actually riding your bikes going around the neighborhood and exploring.

Sometimes bringing out all your toys and just playing with your friends.

Hanging out at the playground or going swimming at the neighborhood pool. Finally getting the courage to jump off the high dive into the deep end. Playing the "dunk" game in the swimming pool and noticed how much more fun it was grabbing girls around the waist and dunking them.

 

[Daisy]

We used to go on "Penny Walks".

You'd walk until you hit a corner then decide heads one direction, tails another and then flip a penny to determine which way you'd go... we would go all over town like that.

I also lived 2 blocks from one park (with playground) and 3 block from another (that actually had two playgrounds)... the farther one was only 1/2 block from my great-grandmother's house, so you could always count on stopping by for sugar cookies and lemonade when you were ready for a break from playing.

The closer park was down in a hollow and when it rained it would flood a little. We would take our fishing poles along and go down and pick nightcrawlers from the puddles and then walk to the river (another 3 blocks away, just behind my dad's office) and catch sunfish. We'd take them home and mom would make pan-fried sunnies for dinner. Yummmm.

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

[old geezer] I loved video games when they emerged, and I still do, but it does seem that kids born before the advent of computers and cable and VCR's/DVD players and crap were forced to be more creative and had richer real life experiences often. [/old geezer]