Remember when?

[flatwins]

I enjoyed your post, JB. I've said many times I wish my kids could experience the naive innocence we had in our youth. Miles away from home on our bikes without a cell phone. But we were fine and our parents knew it. I swear I must be the most nostalgic person in America. That's why some of my posts come off like a crotchety old bastage. It's just me, disappointed in what this country has become.

Your wife resembles Linda Carter? You are a lucky man. Linda is stunningly beautiful. Still is!

 

[HMFIC]

Very true JB! Between technology keeping kids busy indoors, us all getting soft with central heat and air, and just about double the population, the world for kids has changed quite a bit.

The old Looney Toons are STILL my favorite cartoons of all time. hipshot and I were talking the other day about how much we were outside too... from the time I woke up until it was time to come in at night, I was pretty much outside going wild all the time. There were a few breaks for food here and there and the trips to the little service station to load up on candy and pop, but other than that it was nothing but adventure.

Keep them coming guys! What else do you remember?

Climbing trees, playing army, using whatever scrap material we could find to make everything from bicycle ramps to forts. We were lucky enough to have some pretty big open fields around us and we knew every inch of them from lowcrawling and practicing our sneak skills.

 

[flatwins]

Speaking of ramps, some of you might know my brother as "dlbleak" here on OSA but in his youth he was known by a different name: Darren Daredevil Dukie. He was like a NASA test pilot back in the day. A group of us kids would build the tallest, gnarliest ramp out of splintery construction scraps and rusty nails and wonder who would be stupid enough to try to jump it.
They didn't have to look far though. They had their man. Darren Daredevil Dukie would do it. He'd jump anything!

 

[JB Books]

Actually, my wife looks almost exactly like Hedy Lamarr.

 

[yukonjack]

My mom giving us a nickel everytime we left the house so we could call home if we needed anything. Somehow the nickel always got spent on penny candy at Humpty Dumpty.

 

[HarryBear]

Thanks for that post.
If you just read it and understand it, it calms you down for just a brief moment.
Thank God we still live in a free state that you can do that still just be cautious of your surroundings.
Let yourself remember those days and try to forget the ones we live in now.!

 

[HMFIC]

Speaking of ramps, some of you might know my brother as "dlbleak" here on OSA but in his youth he was known by a different name: Darren Daredevil Dukie. He was like a NASA test pilot back in the day. A group of us kids would build the tallest, gnarliest ramp out of splintery construction scraps and rusty nails and wonder who would be stupid enough to try to jump it.
They didn't have to look far though. They had their man. Darren Daredevil Dukie would do it. He'd jump anything!

THAT'S AWESOME Steve!

I have a visual picture of the ramps we used to build in my mind and I'm sure yours were similar.

We'd stack as much solid (well kinda solid) base material as possible that looked like it might stay together under the pressure. Most times, we were more focused on height than stability and as a result there were many accidents from the whole ramp completely exploding once the front tire hit it. Nothing but plywood scraps, broken cinder blocks, bricks, bike parts and boy flying in every direction.

Sometimes the ramp itself would just crack and break leaving you to plow straight into the pile of lift material. From the time I was 5 to 10, my knees were in a perpetual state of skinned. That back alley dirt must be made of O positive because I guarantee you I had at least a quart of it in my blood system.

 

[Okie4570]

My parents would drop myself and two friends off on friday after school during April and May, and often during the summers on the river south of Bartlesville. Armed with .22 rifles, a machete for cutting bank poles, a fishing pole for catching perch to bait bank poles with, a 5 gal bucket each to carry our stuff in, and a latern. They would drop us off on Friday, pick us up early Sunday morning. We'd catch grasshoppers or dig worms for perch, chop our bank poles for flatheads in the river. We lived on hotdogs, donuts, twinkies and coke for a day and a half. Four miles from town, mile and a half from the closest house and not a worry in the world.

 

[Okie4570]

Actually, my wife looks almost exactly like Hedy Lamarr.

Now we should all go do that voodoo that we do, so well!

 

[dennishoddy]

My mom still has my 26" western flyer complete with a banana seat and front rack in the garage. My sisters 24" is right next to it. I've threatened to get it out and ride it again, just never have.
20" bikes hadn't came around yet.