During the holidays 1940’s
On a farm north of Fort collins, Colorado
Whenever there was a family get-together at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or some birthdays, my uncles, Les and Marvin and cousins Corky, Pete and Shirley and my sisters and brothers would be shooed outdoors to play games. Physical games! No TV, no iPad, or Pod…no computers and no Playstation finger excursing games, that take up most of the kids time these days.
We put on wool snow pants and wool coat to match. The boots that sometimes were to big for us, sometimes with bread wrapper inside to keep your feet dry and mittens or sometimes socks with bread wrappers over them. We played with sleds and making snow men depending on how much snow and how wet it was. We usually ending up with a snow ball fight contest. Eating snow was a past time too.
Thanksgiving and Easter we played Kick the Can, Annie Annie Over, Keep Away, I Spy. One occasion we played Keep Away in the plowed field that had big hard dirt clods in it. My uncles at either end and me in the middle. They told me (I was about 8) that I had to jump up and catch the dirt clod. OK I said. One of my uncles heaved the big lump of dirt and half of it fell off and smacked me right in the nose and both eyes. I had blood running out of my nose and into my mouth full of dirt. My mother thought I had my teeth knocked out. She finally shook me and told me to stop screaming! Then she turned around and gave her brothers a tongue-lashing. We never did play keep away after that…not in the plowed field anyway. I had two black eyes and a black and blue nose and a big cut on my lip – dad told me, teasingly, I was a pretty sight.
At Christmas we played with new sleds and trying to find a hill big enough to slid down. Yes, sure in the flat land of northern Colorado we built our own out of snow and pieces or wood from dads scrap pile.
Thanksgiving at grandpa and grandma’s we played in the cherry and apple orchard…Hide and Seek, Catch Me If You Can..running and in and out of the trees.
When we were completely “pooped” Grandma or Mom would call us in for dessert. What good times and how grateful I am to have grown up in an era that my kids do not know and the kids of today think we are a little old and yes, old fashioned. We are but it still was fun and full of memories!
And what games did you play growing up?
May you and yours have a Blessed Thanksgiving.
