Simpler Times

I was listening to a satellite radio talk show on the drive into work. People were calling in about what they, Baby Boomers, remembered most growing up. I had tears in my eyes from some of the things people were calling in with. It's amazing the similarities, no matter what part of the country they grew up in. Here's a few of mine:

• Being home by “the time the streetlights come on”
• Playing in the apricot orchards
• Picking bouquets of mustard flowers for Mom
• Fizzies
• Making Kool-aid popsicles
• Riding bikes with playing cards rubbing the spokes, attached with a clothespin
• Sitting in from of the TV with a mixing bowl of cereal watching cartoons on Saturday
• Captain Kangaroo
• The Mickey Mouse Club
• Combat (with Vic Morrow)
• Leave it to Beaver
• Sunday drives
• Family dinners at Nanny & Pop-Pop’s
• Penny candy
• Double features at the movies
• Drive-ins
• Red light, Green light, Hide 'n' Seek, Simon Says
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Swanson’s chicken pot pies
• Hillbilly bread
• TV dinners
• Summer road trips
• The County Fair
• Lemonaide stands
• Slurpees
• Pet turtles
• The Kid’s Table
• Rootbeer floats
• Playing Army men or cowboys & Indians
• 8mm home movies
• Going to bed when it was still light outside
• The Ice Cream man
• Doughboy swimming pools
• Spaghetti night!
• The Woolworth’s lunch counter
• Gordo, Able, Miss Baker, Sam, Miss Sam, Goliath and Scatback
• New shoes for the first day of school