January 31, 2015
Our yard was the place that lots of neighbor kids came to play. My mother didn't care if we messed up the grass. We didn't have electronic games or big toys to play with, so we made up our own fun.
Kick the Can – You haven't lived until you have played kick the can down the driveway.
Sand Pile – We played for hours with our little cars, trucks, tractors and plow in the sand pile in our back yard.
Mumblely Peg – This was done with a jack knife. We used different motions to flip the knife from our hand into the ground.
Tree Tag – We climbed the big maple tree that was in our front yard and played tag. I don't recall anyone ever falling from that tree, even though we chased each other through the tree. After I became an adult, I asked my mother how she could let us climb in the tree like we did. She replied “I knew where you were”.
Shadow Tag – After it got dark we would turn on the front porch light. The trees in the front yard would make shadows, which were the safe spots to hide. We had an “it” who would chase us to try to catch us to make us the “it”.
King on the Wagon – We had a flat bed hay wagon that had racks on the both ends, but no sides. We had to stay on the ground within an arm's length of the wagon. The person on the wagon had to be on the wagon at all times, while trying to tag us. The goal was to not be the king on the wagon.
Softball – This was played almost daily. We played in the middle yard (between the 2 driveways) on the half towards the road. I have wondered how we played there with the road not far away. We must not have been too good at hitting the ball. Also, at that time the road was a gravel road and not many cars went by. We sometimes had to go across the road to get a ball out of the ditch, but not often.
Hide and Seek – After it got too dark to play softball, we would play hide and seek. The tree closest to the driveway towards the front steps was our “safe” tree. The goal here was to run faster than the person that was “it”, so we would be safe.
Biking – I was 12 when I got a bicycle. We had a long driveway and big backyard, so there was plenty of room to ride bikes. I did ride my bike to school after that.
We played in the barn. We climbed the ladders to the hay mow, played with the cats, and petted the horses. We also played in the granary and the corn crib. The granary had 2 large bins where the oats and wheat were kept., but had lots of area to play in. We put up boards, so we could each make a house (?) At least that is what we called them.
One year I had a calf that I fed and worked with for 4-H. I was sick when it came time to show it at the fair, so someone else showed the calf for me. The calf did get a 3rd place ribbon.