Site Table of Contents Nancy's Story Roy's Story Joanne's Story Allison's Story

Growing up in the 'hood

I feel fortunate to have lived in such a stable neighborhood growing up. The hours spent playing with Leslie Canada and Debbie Olson and other kids are something to be cherished in our mobile society. Regardless of the splinters and sand and probably because of the splinters and sand, our backyard was the best in the neighborhood and a magnet for all the kids.

I credit mom with the low numbers of smokers coming out of the kids living on our block. We were allowed to burn anything we wanted to as long as it was in the orange “BBQ” pit- an old oil drum I think- cut in half. We burned everything in that pit; plastic models, weeds, wood, paper, bugs (Roy probably remembers more as he was often in charge of this activity). All the kids in the neighborhood were drawn to this and we all rolled up newspaper, lit it on fire and “smoked” it’ gag, double gag (and toxic no doubt). I’m sure as a result none of us wanted to smoke the real thing.

The playhouse was awesome as well. I learned lots from Debbie and Leslie about boys and sex and bodily functions while spending the night in the playhouse, draping it with old blankets and gossiping ‘til midnight. Surprisingly much of this salacious gossip turned out to be true though I was often disbelieving at the time. The sawhorses and planks kept us busy all summer, building ramps to run on and chase each other over- and it took most of each summer to get up our nerve to jump off the playhouse- especially as the thorny piracantha bushes were right next to it and the ground was MILES away. None of us wanted to have to tell our moms if we got hurt either! I spent many youthful summers with blisters on the back of my knees from twirling on the bars in the backyard and blisters on my nose from the sun since sunscreen was a product of the future and all we had has zinc oxide, a nasty white paste that my mom would insist (rightfully so mom!) on gobbing on my nose.

The kids in the neighborhood played together year round- there was no Nintendo or Game Boy or computers; barely TV even.We played kickball against the Cox’s brick wall, baseball in the street, skated and skateboarded endlessly, rode bikes on the dirt lots and had extensive paths to ride on. Our house was at the bottom of the hill and we also spent hours blocking the gutter to try and get the water to back up. Debbie Olson’s garage served as our local summer “school”. Why we wanted to play school during the summer I am not quite clear on, but play school we did. We belonged to the Samarkand pool and spent many summer afternoons swimming as well. It could be a long day waiting for the fog to burn off enough to go to the pool- the cabana always creeped me out with the wet floor even though there was a wood grate to stand on. It had some creepy characteristics in common with basements and dark garages in my little pea brain, but the pool was fantastic. I could never float as a kid and still can’t! I much preferred the pool to the ocean as I had a fear of being crushed by the waves and I never did enjoy sand in my suit (still don’t). We did have fun going to Henry’s beach for lunch. There was a burger shack on the beach and pop would give us each a dollar and we could eat what ever we desired, as long as it didn’t go over the dollar amount. I could get a burger, fries, drink and a piece of candy, all for a buck.

Speaking of TV- in this day of high definition, digital TV it is hard to believe that I remember pop building a TV from a Heath Kit on our dining room table. There were vacuum tubes and LOTS of parts. It seemed like it took forever, but it was probably only a few weeks to assemble it. The TV did work and it was our family TV for years and years. We watched the astronauts landing on the moon on that TV and replays of President Kennedy being shot in Texas on that TV! One year pop also brought home a ball of Teflon- I can’t remember why he had it, but I suppose it was being developed by NASA, and he had a sample of it. I am sure we never imagined it would coat most cooking pans in the future and it is even used as a scratch resistant coating on glasses now.

Nancy was probably the most creative and artistic of the four kids. She organized and directed elaborate plays with all the neighborhood kids acting out the parts on a regular basis. She designed and created amazing costumes for us as well. Cleopatra comes to mind as one of the most elaborate of the plays- costumes, sets, make-up with the entire neighborhood involved. She also helped us every year with Halloween costumes. When we were in elementary school we were allowed to wear our costumes to school on Halloween. There was always a class party and all of the students would have a parade around the school grounds showing off our costumes. There was no concern about the political correctness of Halloween and no substituting a “Fall Festival” for the real thing. We would all trick or treat that evening also. We would alternate homes, one for UNICEF and then one for candy. The weather was always warm in Santa Barbara on Halloween, so we would walk from house to house. Sometimes we would go home and change costumes since we had a ready supply thanks to Nancy’s plays and then we would go to the same houses and trick or treat for candy a second time. When I moved to Colorado as an adult and saw parents driving their kids around on Halloween I was just amazed!

Then there was the INCIDENT OF THE MINI BIKE. I can’t even remember which kids in the neighborhood had them but I did know I was NOT ALLOWED to ride them. Of course this was a rule just begging to be broken. Being unknowledgeable about dirt bikes and thinking I knew it all since I could ride a bicycle, and no doubt being egged on by the other kids, I never considered the wisdom of riding one in shorts. Needless to say, I tipped over and burned my leg on the muffler, and unable to fess up to mom, suffered for weeks while it healed. I still have the scar for memories and a reminder to think prior to taking action. We also had grand times up at the canyon, building forts and throwing rocks and dirt clods at each other. It seemed so daring at the time, but looking back at it, not much risk of hurting each other and lots of outdoor fun.

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