Reminiscing- Part Two

Well, I'm returning to take a little bit of time to reminisce about my favorite childhood memories.  In my last post, I mentioned how we used to jump in the hay, play outside in the rain, and make war paint out of mulberries.  I promise, I won't hype on this diatribe much longer, but allow me this post. 

Growing up on a property of five acres was nice.  We would play hide-and-seek so much in the summer evenings.  Our outside rules were always that nobody could hide in buildings, trees or cars.  Eventually, we also had to create the rule that our property line couldn't be crossed (because a few times, some of my siblings ventured off the property and won the game).

I mostly remember always being horrible at choosing good hiding spots.  I usually hid in typical spots close enough to the home base: the wood pile, the log fence near the cow trough.  Home base was always our  glider swing, which sat outside the side door of our house, under the old pine tree.

There was ONE time I remember more clearly though.  That was because it was the one and only time I won hide-and-seek.  When "it" (Sarah was "it", as I recall) started counting to 100, I ran down toward the old apple orchard, looking for another typical place to hide.  I happened to notice our goose pen though.  This pen was made of metal fencing, and the structure was made of skid wood.  The last goose had recently died or been sold, so this pen was vacant.  There was a child's plastic pool still in this fenced area full of dirty, green water.  This pool used to be the goose's fake "pond". 

Since Sarah was getting close to 100, I quickly dumped out the disgusting, filthy water, and hunched down on the ground, pulling this pool over me just as Sarah shouted "100, READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!"

It was torture, hiding in that putrid pool for what felt like hours.  But I grew excited as I listened and heard my siblings running past several different times.  After a long time, I heard those amazing words "Okay Virginia, I give up!!!"

My first and only time, winning at Hide-and-seek.

 Some evenings, my dad would join in on the fun too.  It was always a little more fun when daddy played with us.  The rules changed.  We would play INDOOR, and only in the late evening, when it was dark outside. 
The best rule was that all lights must remain turned off, except for in the family room, which was where home base was.  It was a good thing that my mother loved using electric candles and had one at nearly every window, especially on the front of the house. 

Hide-and seek in the dark is 100 times more frightening as a child.  Again, I never hid in good spots because I was scared of the dark, so I would always hide in either the kitchen or living room- the closest rooms to home base.  Some of my siblings and daddy would find some amazingly creative spots.  One time, they even hid in the small crawl space under one of our bathrooms. 

Last year, Dan and I babysat four of our nieces and nephews for two days.  One evening, I suggested we try this, hide-and-seek in the dark at our house in Baltimore.  It was a real hit.  Dan went all out and hid under a pile of paint clothes in the basement. 


My second memory is that of Oregon Trail.  In our family homeschool, we were all required to read stories of pioneers and Indians and the Oregon Trail.  We would often re-enact the Oregon Trail when we were quite young. 

 

Our "conestoga wagons" were actually red wagons.  One year for our birthdays, Lydia and I got red wagons with nice, wooden removable gates like this one. 

 

We also had a smaller, metal wagon that we used.  I always felt a little bit bad for my older sisters, since they always had to be the ones pulling the wagons.  But it usually went that Katie would pull Lydia in her wagon in the front, Sarah would pull me in my wagon next, and then Martha would pull Oliver last.  Katie and Sarah always created amazing scenarios and obstacles for us to face.  Landslides, steep mountains, we even forded the river once.  We would usually bring along blankets to bundle up in. 

 

This particular game was amazing.  I'm fascinated when I look back on it, at how creative and imaginative (and also historically knowledgeable) my sisters were! 

 

Small things like this probably helped to instill in us a deep appreciation for history. 

 

I find that today, this imaginative, re-creation and re-enacting of historical events is missing.  Someday, I want my children to think outside of the box as well.  I want for my children to imagine how things were and how they will be, not to be shown (via movies and media) what to think or what they can aspire to be.