the good old days
- Thread starter bohunr
- Start date
+1 Lots of fond memories of summers on my aunt & uncle's farm. Fishing in the canal w/bent pin/bread balls for perch, riding tractor w/my uncle, picking and sampling various citrus fruit, getting acquainted with my uncle's razor strap for riding the bull calvesEven though I was raised in a medium sized city, I had the no pleasure of spending a ton of time on farms and in country settings throughout my youth. I have had the pleasure to do most of the things on the list. I do remember the doctor that made house calls. I remember him smoking a cigarette while examining me too!I have said a thousand times that every kid should spend some time on a farm.
; even most of the chores listed above and picking cotton (by hand).
AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
Mom told people we had running water, yup i'd run out to the well and pump a bucket full and run back into the house before my sisters got up. Watering the garden was tough, we had a wash tub on a stool and we'd syphon water out of it with a hose to all the parts of the garden, my job was to keep pumping so the hose wouldn't lose suction. Dad finally found a pump jack.
I had a Percheron that was broke to ride and drive. Rode him to check my local trapline in the winter and skidded logs with him. Shootig off his back spooked him but standing alongside him where he could see the rifle or handgun the shot didn't bother him.
I had a Percheron that was broke to ride and drive. Rode him to check my local trapline in the winter and skidded logs with him. Shootig off his back spooked him but standing alongside him where he could see the rifle or handgun the shot didn't bother him.
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bohunr
Well-known member
ya know, hearing that i'll be 67 this year doesnt make me feel old at all.
but when someone says i graduated high school 50 years ago, that one hurts a little
in my school days we would all get on our bikes and head to the public dock (Erie, PA) spend the day fishing, snagging moon eye or catching carp and selling them by the stringer load.
when we got home our parents would know if we were causing trouble. i grew up around 8th and ash street. we crossed thru polish, german, and russian neighborhoods with out a problem.
yet somehow if we acted up our parents knew it.
i wanna go back
but when someone says i graduated high school 50 years ago, that one hurts a little
in my school days we would all get on our bikes and head to the public dock (Erie, PA) spend the day fishing, snagging moon eye or catching carp and selling them by the stringer load.
when we got home our parents would know if we were causing trouble. i grew up around 8th and ash street. we crossed thru polish, german, and russian neighborhoods with out a problem.
yet somehow if we acted up our parents knew it.
i wanna go back
Used to take my .410 single shot Winchester to school for show n tell.
Break it down , clean it.
Would ride my bike after school 15 miles along a busy highway one way with my bow to shoot carp in a small river.
Every back yard in Fargo/ Moorhead was my playground. A wrist rocket was my weapon, robins,doves,rabbits,purple martins.., didn't matter.
If it moved, I stalked it. (NOT Ashamed)!!
Break it down , clean it.
Would ride my bike after school 15 miles along a busy highway one way with my bow to shoot carp in a small river.
Every back yard in Fargo/ Moorhead was my playground. A wrist rocket was my weapon, robins,doves,rabbits,purple martins.., didn't matter.
If it moved, I stalked it. (NOT Ashamed)!!
Sprinkman
Well-known member
The good old days, my first plug of Red Man. Was about 12 or so, one of the neighborhood boys had a pouch and we all just had yo try it. Tasted great, at first. Than the process began. Slowly turned green, started to feel quizzy and than full blown puke for what felt like a lifetime. Those were really the good old days!
limbhanger10
Well-known member
....playing Army ALL day in corn and hay fields... only the small one by the road because one of the neighbor kids got "lost" in the bigger one.
...runner sledding down the roads in the winter, right off the driveway was a 1/2 mile 10Ā° grade...the next corner road had a 5/8 mile 20Ā° grade that eventually met my road. So we had to walk almost 2 miles for less than one minute of fun.
...got lost in the 900 acres of woods behind house with the neighbor girl..and in reality we weren't 200 yards from our houses.
....frogs, turtles, spiders and snakes all at some point escaped from my bedroom.
...the real excitement was when the neighbors cows got loose at night and they'd be walking around the house in the morning.
... had a hour morning bus ride to school. Was always in sports so I never got home till after 5 pm.
...worked on small farm for 4 summers planting and picking cabbage and doing hay. Going into Junior and Senior year, i summer worked for the biggest farmer in the county with connections from my wrestling coach and local college coach.
Junior year i worked out in the fields doing prep.
Going into senior year i moved into the plant 2nd shift loading and unloading trucks...I'd come home smelling like a fresh bag of potato chips.
We got to take any approved damaged product. So for a month I'd save all the damaged snacks and take a GIANT duffel bag to wrestling camp in July. Everything would be gone the first night.
Parents still live there and farm is still there and owned by original family for over 100 years.
...runner sledding down the roads in the winter, right off the driveway was a 1/2 mile 10Ā° grade...the next corner road had a 5/8 mile 20Ā° grade that eventually met my road. So we had to walk almost 2 miles for less than one minute of fun.
...got lost in the 900 acres of woods behind house with the neighbor girl..and in reality we weren't 200 yards from our houses.
....frogs, turtles, spiders and snakes all at some point escaped from my bedroom.
...the real excitement was when the neighbors cows got loose at night and they'd be walking around the house in the morning.
... had a hour morning bus ride to school. Was always in sports so I never got home till after 5 pm.
...worked on small farm for 4 summers planting and picking cabbage and doing hay. Going into Junior and Senior year, i summer worked for the biggest farmer in the county with connections from my wrestling coach and local college coach.
Junior year i worked out in the fields doing prep.
Going into senior year i moved into the plant 2nd shift loading and unloading trucks...I'd come home smelling like a fresh bag of potato chips.
We got to take any approved damaged product. So for a month I'd save all the damaged snacks and take a GIANT duffel bag to wrestling camp in July. Everything would be gone the first night.
Parents still live there and farm is still there and owned by original family for over 100 years.
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DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
I grew up in a lower income mill hill. None of the houses had a swimming pool, but there was this one really nice grassy ditch in the corner of a neighbors yard. After a good rain the ditch would fill with nice clear water about 3ft deep. That ditch was the neighborhood swimming pool. At times there would be 10-12+ kids swimming, playing. Not a fight in sight, not a parent in sight.
Last year whenever I visited the Philippines I was both sadden and amazed. I watched group after group of kids, 7, 8, 9 years old get together and jump on a trikes for a ride to town to buy candy/food. It reminded me of how the US used to be. Where kids played without having to worry about being abducted.
Last year whenever I visited the Philippines I was both sadden and amazed. I watched group after group of kids, 7, 8, 9 years old get together and jump on a trikes for a ride to town to buy candy/food. It reminded me of how the US used to be. Where kids played without having to worry about being abducted.
crapshoot
Well-known member
While I'm not as old as alot of you, nor did i grow up in the country, i still miss the times of ole.
Growing up in the desert/Southern Nevada, we never missed a chance to play in the gutters or flood channels any time we got a good rain or the fire station was testing hydrants. Summers were spent at the public pool or playing in the lawn sprinklers for most of us that couldn't afford pools.
Lizard hunting with BB guns. Catching them took to much effort. Them suckers were fast and it was god awful hot outside.
Home made Popsicles made in the freezer ice trays or Tupperware molds.
And riding bikes all day.
Hated cleaning your own room but wouldn't blink an eye to help a buddy knock his out so he could go play.
Growing up in the desert/Southern Nevada, we never missed a chance to play in the gutters or flood channels any time we got a good rain or the fire station was testing hydrants. Summers were spent at the public pool or playing in the lawn sprinklers for most of us that couldn't afford pools.
Lizard hunting with BB guns. Catching them took to much effort. Them suckers were fast and it was god awful hot outside.
Home made Popsicles made in the freezer ice trays or Tupperware molds.
And riding bikes all day.
Hated cleaning your own room but wouldn't blink an eye to help a buddy knock his out so he could go play.
Rhett Steele
Well-known member
I spent my youth in a creek. I would walk down first light and not return till dinner during the summer. Didn't go to town much, too far of a bike ride from home but sometimes I would. Mom would say be careful. This was down the county road to state highway then push the bike uphill along the side of the road and it was downhill to town. No way I'd let my kids to that today.
If I had a dollar for every crawdad I caught as a youth, I'd buy a custom F-Class rifle.
I too was a professional lightning bug catcher. I don't know if kids today catch them.
There was a slough by the river. Me and a buddy would turtle line the slough and sell the snappers to the bait shop for 50cent a pound. Later the CO's raided the bait shop and one of their charges was selling turtle meat. Our profit was spent on Marlboro's and RedMan. I guess kids vape now, but it seems the tobacco use has drastically dropped.
If I had a dollar for every crawdad I caught as a youth, I'd buy a custom F-Class rifle.
I too was a professional lightning bug catcher. I don't know if kids today catch them.
There was a slough by the river. Me and a buddy would turtle line the slough and sell the snappers to the bait shop for 50cent a pound. Later the CO's raided the bait shop and one of their charges was selling turtle meat. Our profit was spent on Marlboro's and RedMan. I guess kids vape now, but it seems the tobacco use has drastically dropped.
" Fishing in the canal w/bent pin/bread balls" My first fishing rig - old car antenna, some of Mom's thread and a safety pin for a hook. Carrot for bait. Sit on a log on the pond at the end of the street. Never got anything.
edit: had to learn on my own, folks didn't hunt or fish.
edit: had to learn on my own, folks didn't hunt or fish.
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AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
My dad made sure I had great fishing gear even when we were living in a two room house without plumbing. Fishing was a big deal for us the whole relations fished. On weekends they would head to a lake rent boats and the men would fish. My dad and grandfather were the only ones with outboards 3hp Elgins and would tow strings of boats out to the good spots. The women would play canasta on the picnic tables und til late afternoon lunch and out would come the cooler charcoal and sterno stoves got lit and a feast was served beer boiled brats, rolauden, all manner and german sausages and potatoes salads.