I grew up in a smallish town in the 1950s and 60s - Glenview, Illinois. The midwest. Carl Sandburg land. Chicago. Lake Michigan. Four seasons. It was a great time to grow up in Glenview. And it was a great time to be a kid there.
I could ride my bike everywhere - the town was small enough so that distance was not an issue. Nor were there any highways, expressways, or other such things to worry about. We even had sidewalks to ride our bikes on (for the less daring, of course).
I walked to school giving me the opportunity to crunch the crispy ice that had formed overnight on the puddles. To stomp and kick through huge stacks of autumn leaves piled up waiting to be burned over the weekend. To pick lilacs from the wildly abundant stands of lilac bushes to bring to school for the May altars. We did not have or need school buses, let alone door to door school bus service that we see today! A mile was seen as a very very little bit of walking to have to do.
I could play outside at night - even after dark! We did not think about danger or crime - if we wanted to scare ourselves, we would tell each other ghost stories in the shadows of the huge elm trees. It was safe to walk in our neighborhoods at night, to play softball in the middle of the street, to run through the backyards playing tag. We would iceskate at Roosevelt Park at night under the stars and then walk home with our skates over our shoulders and our breath frosting the air.
After school we would "hang out" at the drugstore. How utterly daring! Our drugstore had a real soda fountain and it was a daily ritual to sit at the counter and have french fries and a green river, or vanilla coke. And then we would walk over to Rugan's general store for penny candy - really - only a penny!
I look back on Glenview today and wonder if it still exists anywhere in this country. I see all of the sheltered and heavily guarded children in my community - well, I actually do not see them as they are not allowed outside to play. They make "play dates" with approved "friends." No spontaneous knocking on a friend's door to "come out and play" for them. No soda fountains but for the tarted up replicas in the shopping malls. No playing outside at night.
I sound like an old something-or-other I guess. But it was a good time to be a kid in the 1950s, in Glenview, Illinois.
