pleasent memories from childhood?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Was listening to the song "Old days" by Chicago and got to thinking (usually a dangerous pastime for me)......what pleasantries from childhood do you remember and miss?

Here are a few of mine:

-Slingshots (home made, from inner tube rubber and the forked limb of a maple tree)

-home made bows and arrows

-building model airplanes, tanks, cars, ect.

-building and flying model rockets

-playing outdoors.....did it more so in the summer, but we bundled up in the winter and went out and built snow forts, formed teams and had snow ball fights, ect.

-Looking forward to large snowfalls for two reasons: 1.) school might close, and 2.) it gave us a chance to make some money shoveling snow!

-visiting my Grandparents, who lived in the country, during summer vacation.......got to go fishing whenever I wanted (as long as I walked to the creek or fishing hole), and being able to shoot my BB gun without fear of repercussions!

-Being able to go anywhere in the neighborhood without my parents fearing for my safety......just had to be home "when the street lights came on". I have to laugh at this one....I still remember playing baseball in the street one summer evening and everyone scattering for home when the street light came on; we must have looked like a giant heard of cockroaches or something!

-riding our bikes. "Banana seats" & "sissy bars" were the style back then; no one ever heard of a 10 speed back then....our bikes had one speed, and that was as fast as we pedaled them!
....and we didn't wear helmets back then, either.

-spying on our friend's older sisters....that would get your arse tossed in jail nowadays, no matter how old you are!

-catching frogs, crayfish, polywogs, ect.

-sand lot baseball, football, ect. First base was the old soda cup, second base was the old tire, ect. NO referees or umpires.....we worked it out ourselves. Nowadays, the kids have to have "organized" sports, and mommy and daddy act like complete idiots in the stands.

-building & flying our own home made kites; all you needed was a ball of string (5 cents at the local party store) and a sheet of newspaper and a couple of twigs from the local ash or maple tree.

-metal above ground swimming pools

-MAD magazine (What? me....worry?)

-fireworks

-Building "forts"....we didn't have "tree forts", but we made 'bunkers" (for lack of a better descriptor) by digging into the ground and using old Election signs for the top, and covering them with dirt. It still amazes me today that no body ever got hurt from a 'cave in'.

Well, there's a few.........anybody want to chime in?