Sometimes I need a little me time

It has been 5 months since I last wrote anything for this here blog. Am I still a blogger? Was I ever?
I tried the 5-finger Vibram running barefoot thingys today - just around the house. I'll tell you something: it's a lot harder to coordinate toes into toe holes than it is fingers into finger holes. It took me about 5 minutes of strolling around inside the house to realize my pinky toe was missing and almost as long to convince it to leave the little piggy that had no roast beef and go wee-wee-wee all the way home. Now granted I'm prone to hot foot attacks and am again missing a large portion of the nail on my big toe (another door-ing accident), but I'm not yet a fan. In fact, I boxed 'em back up to take back to the store. (Outfitter, in case you were wondering.)
I'm still thinking the thrill of running through the woods with nearly bare feet would be terrific and take me back to my childhood, but then again when I did that as a child I usually ended up getting a tetnus shot. Maybe another time.
My sister-in-law just sent me the following, and I do not know from whence it came prior to that, but I like it:

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.


They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.


Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.


We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes,
we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.


As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..


Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.


We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.


We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.


We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY?


Because we were always outside playing...that's why!


We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.
--And, we were OKAY.


We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem..


We did not have Play Stations, Nintendo’s and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.


WE HAD FRIENDS


and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.


We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand or a "ling kock", and no one would call child services to report abuse.


We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.


We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and -although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.


We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.


Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.


Imagine that!!


The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!


These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.


The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..


We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.


If YOU are one of those born between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS!


You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.


While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.


Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?
----- unknown to me

So, as one of those children who know how big 40 acres was and could hear Mom's whistle from the far corners, get out there and celebrate dirt, dang it! Stomp in the mud, splash in the streams, lakes and ponds. Hit (inanimate) things with sticks and teach your kids how to be kids. You may just find that you remember how yourself.