My 1950's Summer

...Free flow play...No schedules...Toys everywhere...
                                     No plans...Stop-and-drop play...Learning the 50 states and capitols
            No play-dates...Doorbells ringing...Neighborhood kids...Warm grass...
                                                             No schedules...Doodling..Shape-shifting routines
Eating when hungry...Hide-and-seeking...burying boys in sand
                No 'Organized Sports'...Skipping rocks...Whiffle ball...Street ball...Garbage can ball...
                                                                                       Sketchbooks and pencils...Learning new card tricks...Magic tricks
                   No camps...Wandering through neighbors' yards.
Ding-dong
"Can they come out and play?"
       Jumping fences...Chalk on sidewalks...Pop-a-Wheelies...
                                               ...Cursive writing...No classes...Reading...
                  No agendas...Running through sprinklers...
                                                                             ...Pools...Swimming at night..."Marco"
   -- "Polo!"
                                           Spraying hoses...Diving from high boards...
       ... Aunt visits...Making mud pies...Lakes...Picking blackberries...
                      ...Dead-heading tiger lilies...Badminton...Ping Pong...
'Baseball-Tennis'...Listening to baseball games on AM...
             ...Pennies on train tracks...Lemonade Stands...
Bowling. Lots and lots of bowling.
     Rummage sales...Yard sales...Trying on fur coats and hats in antique stores...
                                 Bikes on lawns..Spotting stray kittens...Collecting bugs...Looking for turtles in the lagoon.
"It's a mess in here."
                      ...Trampolines...Putting the dog on the trampoline...Putting the cat on the trampoline...
Hanging upside down on monkey bars...Handstands...Cartwheels...Somersaults
                                                        ...Gloopy ice cream cones...Transistor radios...Lawn chairs
'Svengoolie'...Comic books...Making comic books...
         Drawing comic book characters on cardboard...Mailing them to 'Svengoolie'. In a stamped envelope.
                         ...Black-and-white alien movies. Monster movies.
                           ..."Attack of the Killer Tomato", "King Kong", "The Invisible Man"
                                                            ...Westerns...John Wayne..."Shane"..."Red River"..."She Wore A Yellow Ribbon"...
"Gone With The End" in half-hour nightly installments....
            "Pink Panther"..."Charade"..."Every Which Way But Loose"..."Breaking Away"...
                                                                          No Pixar. None.
       ...Long car rides...Dancing to music from vinyl records on turntables...
Time-giving. Date-lost. Day-blur.
Free flow play
Free flow days