Your favorite childhood memory

[azsnowman]

Geee...THANKS Duckie for the "flashbacks" of the Plastic Bubbles thread "LOL!" I'm in BIG TIME retro mode today, guess seeing one of my friends pass on at such an early age makes me long for those childhood days of innocence.

Guess my favorite childhood memory would have to be sitting on my grandfathers front porch in West Texas, Lockney Texas to be exact, watching the thunderstorms roll in from MILES away and the smell of grandpa's pipe, the smell of rain on the Plains of Texas and hearing him YELL.........."Time to head to the cellar kiddo's, tornado's comin'!"

Dennis

[Josephine96]

Hmm

I have a few good ones.. Mine would probably be bragging to my dad about every little thing I did.. and him saying "Good Job" even if it was something silly..

[bfez1]

Christmas Eve--waiting for Santa to come
I can still remember that "magical" feeling of the holidays as a child

[sunny]

Going camping on "Big Creek"! I had a big family, 6 kids. My cousins were also a big family of 6 kids. We would go camping 13 miles down a gravel road, we would set up camp on one side of the road, they would set up on the other side of the road. We'd swim in the creek all day, go tubing. At night, we would build a fire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Life was so much more simple back then...

[Radar]

Summertime as a kid growing up in a small town. I had 6 siblings and too many cousins to count. We would build forts in the woods and swim in the community pool we always had a season pass. My baby blue banana seat bicycle with the basket in the front and playing cards in my spokes. Playing Kick the can after supper until the street lights came on and it was time to go in and get ready for bed. Eating fresh strawberries out of Grandma's strawberry patch until she caught us and chased us off with her house slipper.... The joys and innocence of childhood....

[streetsoldier]

Leaving home for the USAF.

[Cookiely]

Getting hamburgers and going to the drive in movies. That was a real treat when we were little. I can still smell the citronella to chase the mosquitos away.

[cajungal]

Going fishing at our camp down Bayou Dularge. Fishing all day off the wharf. Fishing all day in our boat. Watching my grandpa catch shrimp with the popier. (sp). And going up and down the bayou in the pirougue. Then, taking a dip in Lake Mechant. It was very sad when Hurricane Andrew took our fishing camp. It was totally destroyed. I was not surprized since it sat right near the gateway of the Gulf Of Mexico. It did not stand a chance. We have bought another camp not far from where we had the old one. But, it has never been the same. It will only be a matter of time before another hurricane takes that one too.

[Swimdude]

Christmas Eve--waiting for Santa to come
I can still remember that "magical" feeling of the holidays as a child

Amen to that. And quite possibly my LEAST favorite childhood memory was being told, at age EIGHT, that "Santa wasn't real." Those words, straight from my Dad. I cried for 3 hours. And then I thought it was really cool, because it was a secret I could keep from my brother.

In the next "Christmas morning" videotape, i'm continually winking at the camera. It's hilarious.

Anyway, I miss those "magical" Christmas feelings. Although I must say, those feelings have returned just ONCE since I learned the news about Santa... Last Christmas - When Houston had it's "white Christmas."

[beenthru6]

My favorite childhood memories have to be ice skating with my older brothers and our cousins on the pond below our house. We would hurry home from school, get our homework done and grab our skates and spend the entire rest of the evening at the pond. We would build a big bonfire beside the pond, so we could warm up when we got cold. We would sometimes take hotdogs and s'mores fixings and as long as our grades were good and mom didn't have trouble getting us up for school in the morning, she would let us stay out until 11:00p.m. We had so much fun!

[CFL]

I think my favorite memory would be when my friends and I used to practice doing cartwheels in the backyard. We were pretty good at them then, but I don't think I'd want to try one now!

[azsnowman]

Getting hamburgers and going to the drive in movies. That was a real treat when we were little. I can still smell the citronella to chase the mosquitos away.

OMG...DRIVE IN MOVIES?? WOW....I had forgot about that! Sitting watching a GOOD movie inside the car and watching thunderstorms roll in, nothing like it in the world, a movie and lightning show ALL in ONE! OH...and the "Concession stand burgers" *yuck* LOL!

Dennis

[Pburgh]

Mine would be family fishing trips to Canada. My Dad and I would get up early in the morning when it was still dark outside and go out fishing on the lake.

Swimdude WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE'S NO SANTA!!!!!!!!

I loved Drive-in movies!!!!! Foggy windows, rumpled clothes. Oh, that's not a childhood memory. Sorry nevermind

[Miss Mary]

I was going to say xmas and waiting to see what I got from Santa.

But since my family moved several times in our community, my dad was always saying the next house would be better, nicer, I remember hanging out in the woods mostly with friends. So that would be it - at every single home or neighborhood I just remember playing in the woods - all day long. We'd sit on logs or trees that fell over creeks, eating our lunches, talking, etc. Or building forts out of leaves and once a tree house. We built the tree house on a dairy farm behind our house and the owners didn't mind a bit. We hung out there in rainstorms, in the winter all bundled up. I've gone back to this community a few times and a few of these wooded areas have been torn down to make way for stores or more homes. That's so sad to me. But it's progress I guess.

I think that's why I love hiking so much. The calm and quiet of a wooded setting is very calming to me. And brings back many happy memories.

Mary

[azskyman]

There is no Santa ????

Hard to select just one favorite childhood memory, but as I get older my long-term memories become clearer and my short-term is going away altogether.

Among the favorites; going out in a tiny rowboat by myself along the shoreline of Lake Gulliver in the UP of Michigan, building and racing in the soap box derby on the 4th of July, playing red light/green light with neighbor kids on warm summer evenings, riding with my dad and his 57 Chevy in the deepest snows every winter, Christmastime...especially Christmas morning, sitting with my mom on our screened in porch when the rain was falling outside and each drop beat against the awnings that protected it, having a clubhouse in the peak of the garage...where my neighbor friend and I would sweat ourselves to sleep on a summer night, climbing the cherry trees to see how high we would get, flying a kite every March at my uncle's farm, fishing with my dad and cousins and catching the biggest carp in the river, 4th of July fireworks...seeing how close we could sit to them, the Boone County fair and riding on the ferris wheel.

A few.

[wxcrazytwo]

kissing my first girlfriend in pre-school named Rachel, and then marrying a girl named Rachel...

[Swimdude]

kissing my first girlfriend in pre-school named Rachel, and then marrying a girl named Rachel...

Wow that's some irony! Hope they weren't the same one!

[Miss Mary]

Swimdude - me thinks it's the same girl! I meant to ask about this post....

So did you marry your old pre-school friend wxcrazy? If so, that's so neat. Something to tell the grandkids, no doubt.

Mary

[pojo]

going camping at least once a month and playing outside in igloos and forts during winter

[wxcrazytwo]

Swimdude - me thinks it's the same girl! I meant to ask about this post....

So did you marry your old pre-school friend wxcrazy? If so, that's so neat. Something to tell the grandkids, no doubt.

Mary

No, I did not, but there is a lot of irony between us two. She has lived in Florida all her life and me in California. This is the kicker 1) I told my mother before she passed away that I was going to marry a Rachel, 2) When I was in the Navy, I was suppose to be stationed on a Nuclear Trident Submarine named U.S.S. Florida, 3) My wife loves the song "HOTEL CALIFORNIA." Is this ironic or what...