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What gave you the most joy as a child?

Posted on Feb 25th, 2008 by kicksave : sayer of sooths kicksave
What a great topic...Hours spend playing 'army' in the woods and yards in my neighborhood. I was an expert in urban warfare by the age of 11. Too bad paintball came along so much later. We would generally play in the woods behind my friends house, there was a pond rimmed by hills on all sides, and the brush was way overgrown, it was our own Vietnamese jungle, and in winter the arena for some fierce hockey games. It was also where all of our tree forts got built, including the three story one we built from doors and old 2x4's and bent nails.

Because all of the kids in the neighborhood had responsible parents who insured that they did things like homework, studying and the occasional bath, I spent a lot of time alone wandering the streets of my hometown. I would come home from school and head down to the river and play on the empty docks, hopping on and off the barges. Playing on the two story sand and gravel piles. I found a way onto the building and would launch myself into space only to fall into the sand pile.

The towns original jail was on the street to the dock, and being agile I learned how to break in the second floor window and explore the cells and dank basement..I also learned that a cigarette lighter and a can of paint makes an adequate torch to see by in dark abandoned buildings, not to mention a few other interesting uses.

My imagination soared in the countless hours I spend exploring both the town I actually lived in and the complex vivid one I built inside of my head. Where could fly, captain a barge on the Mississippi, crouch unmoving in the jungle waiting to ambush an enemy patrol.

We didn't live in the worst part of town, but you could see it from where we lived, looking back I would have been easy pickings for a pedophile...if he got close enough to catch me that is...I could always fly!
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