Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Wayne PA House And Letting Five Year Olds Go To The Park Alone. Turtles..

I had to go to a funeral last week and on the way we drove by the house I lived in until I was seven,. There it is above. It's in on the Mainline in Wayne, PA. It was about two minutes from the Devon Horse Show if you know where that is.

Then we drove by the park I used to go to that was right down the street. And it got me thinking how when I was five I was allowed to go to the park by myself. Can you imagine people today doing that?? Here are a few memories I have of that park:

- There was a little storage house where you go borrow balls, hula hoops, shuffle board sticks and the like. But I was terrified of going in because the older kids were known to turn off the lights and lock kids in. And by "older" they were probably nine year olds.

- I found a box turtle* near the woods and I brought it home. It had a red paint stripe on it. I kept it for a few months then my dad made me return it. I can't remember why he made me release a pet back into the wild. Maybe lettuce and hamburger prices (it's food) were skyrocketing in the early 70's? I'll need to Google that.

- There was a kid named John that lived across the street from the Park. He was in my first grade class. I used to go to his house once and a while. The last time I went is when I was at the park then crossed the street to see if he could come out. A stranger answered the door and the man said, "Oh that family moved a few days ago. We live here now." And then closed the door on me *cue sad trombone*

Huh?? Thanks for telling me John! Wherever you are. 

*FUN FACT:: Box turtles live their entire lives roaming no more than one square mile?

12 comments:

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Well, sounds like John could be hundreds of miles away but that box turtle never made it more than a mile away in all these years. : )

Dr Zibbs said...

KN - Can you imagine of John really just moved two houses down?

Anonymous said...

Ss

CrotchPains said...

Zibbs: Sounds like you haven't wandered more than a mile either...

Dr Zibbs said...

Crotch - oh yeah??

Scope said...

You always came to my house, so I didn't know where you lived.

- John

Chris said...

John was always kind of a dick anyway, remember that time he painted a red stripe on your turtle and said the turtle looked like Herbie the Love Bug?

Dr Zibbs said...

Chris good riddance to him.

Suze said...

'cue sad trombone'

Made the b-day girl chuckle inwardly.

Dr Zibbs said...

Glad you liked that size.

Queen Goob said...

Wayne.....my uncle Bob (Dr. Robert Gordon) was the minister at Wayne Presbyterian Church in the early 80's. Many a fond memory of the trouble we started.....errr the happy times we had while hanging in Wayne.

Dr Zibbs said...

Quuen Goob - Cool! But I was brought up Catholic so would never have gone there.