When I Was A Kid............

I remember summer vacations when I was a kid. We always went to my grandmother's house in West Virginia. It was just a wide spot in the road called Cairo. Dad always dropped us kids off at the store in town on our way in. We each bought an orange sherbet push-up for fifteen cents apiece and then we would walk the short distance to grandma's house. I remember the old marble factory in Cairo. We used to walk to it and pick up the marbles from around the factory that they considered rejects. They were treasures to us. One time we were invited into the factory for a tour. It was really neat watching them make the marbles. Times were very different back then. We were more afraid of getting in trouble with our parents than we were of any stranger. We played all day long in the creek building dams and catching tadpoles or minnows. We even caught a snake or two! There was no such thing as video games or computers, or even cell phones, much less cordless phones! Our parents didn't HAVE to worry so much about where we were or what we were doing, or even who we were doing it with. As long as we came home before the streetlights came on, we were fine.
All the kids in the neighborhood knew each other, and as a result, so did the parents. You could bet that if you got in trouble at a friend's house, your parents would know it before you made it home! I can remember playing in the woods near our house. Some friends and I started a campfire one evening and someone brought some cigarettes. That was a big no-no back then! Even though you could ride your bike to the store and buy cigarettes for your mom or dad, you better not get caught smoking any of them! Anyway, there was three or four of us sitting around this little fire smoking like we were grown, and suddenly we hear this deep voice at the edge of the woods, "young lady, you better get home now!!! And I'm calling all your parents, too!" It was my friend Tracy's dad! I almost peed on myself I was so scared! And when our dog got knocked up, we knew exactly who's dog did it, and my mother called the people and told them their dog got our dog pregnant. They apologized for it and were present for the birthing, then helped us find homes for the puppies. Try doing doing that these days.......
It just goes to show you that whoever said "It takes a village....." well, they were right. It at least takes a neighborhood.