I Grew Up In An Innocent Life

Outside was our go-to place. We had homemade playdough. Tiny play rolling pins. Betsy Wetsy dolls. In the summer we were outside Picking vegetables all morning. But the afternoons were for swimming. Either in the lake or the public pool. Marbles was my game in autumn. I was good at it. Good at jacks too. I collected a lot of marbles. On rainy days I created my own paper dolls. Barbie came out when I was nine. We got them for Christmas that year. Our aunt made clothes for them. She taught us how to sew and that was fun. Troll dolls were popular when we got to sixth grade. We made bunches of clothes out of felt for them. There was a pattern and we had it! Twigs and sticks were made into little grass huts In the back forty during spring. We also found a stream and made it wider Naming it singing river, back down by the cotton wood trees. We played “The ghost is out tonight” in the summer evenings With six or ten neighborhood kids Our parents laughing on the porches over nothing. Such an innocent life. Such a wonderful innocent time!