Build a healthy future in the outdoors

Do you remember being told, Go outside and play when you were a kid? Did you ever wonder what to DO? Outside? Not me. Outside was home for me.

I loved to climb my neighbors sycamore tree, ride my bike, play fetch with the dog and there were always lots of kids in the neighborhood to play some game or other. Big kids and little kids played together. It did not matter what school or church or synagogue we went to or NOT. What mattered was that we were all within earshot of someone’s parents and we played in each others yard for different reasons.

The slate patio in my yard was better for jump rope than the grassy slope of Patty’s yard. Eddies driveway was slick black pavement so it was great for skating and handball. Sometimes we collected lightning bugs in jars from everyone’s yard and then took the glass jars into a big tent in our yard. We would go off on some wild imaginary adventure in the dark using our bug lights until someone was called home.

Circus. We created circus. Our pets reluctantly joined in this charade with silly costumes. Eddie always had some new magic tricks to WOW us with. Kathy and I took turns being ringmaster. It was as much fun getting it all together as it was to actually perform before our appreciative audience full of grandmothers, some who did not even speak the same language as the others.

I don’t know who made the lemonade but after the circus there was always something to drink or nibble on. Grandmothers and parents made sure we were all occupied through the summer and everyday after school. Outdoors. Not indoors. There were some homes I never even set foot in but we surely had a lot of fun in our yards.

Sometimes we played an adventure game that we called Scout. Scout was special because it required all kinds of outdoor equipment, like canteens and flashlights. I got in trouble once for bringing out Dad’s Leupold binoculars to play with when it was my turn to be the spy. Eddie had plastic ones but I loved the big real binoculars and so did everyone else, until someone discovered they were my Dads. Mom explained these were genuine binoculars for adults and they cost a lot so they were off limits for a motley crew of kids. Little did I know! Today I use them for birdwatching. There is no way I would let little kids fiddle with them.

What happened to fun in the backyard? We were not afraid to learn by falling or failing. We taught each other how to get along. Fights were not allowed. Today quarrels and fights are common in school. And neighborhood streets are empty while kids play alone indoors with video games and eat junk food and get fat.

We might all be healthier and have more wholesome neighborhoods if we spend more time outdoors. Instead, we protect our kids and keep everyone in safe and supervised group activities. So when we get together as families it is an awkward time and everyone retreats to their own space and does their own electronic thing. Lets create some healthy outdoor fun with our kids today.

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