Park


The park plays such an important part in my childhood memories!  There aren't many that don't involve the park.  The house that I grew up in is right across the street from the park, and my present house is right next to it.
In the summer, I remember telling mama "I'm going to the park".  It was a place where you could go as a child without supervision.  When mama wanted us home, we were within yelling distance.  The park is divided by a road, and both sections offer different activities.  The "upper" park consists of a walking trail. (To get a better view of the park, click on the pictures to enlarge.)

 The "lower" park is more recreational:  a couple of playgrounds, a pavilion that was once a school, a gymnasium, tennis courts, baseball field, and more walking trails.

There is a spring, or a brook, running through both sides. We would cut through the park while walking on the way home from school.  There were a few times when we would see daddy driving.  He would yell & wave...and keep going. I walked or road my bike through the park to get to the pool.  There used to be a "brownie house" that the girl scouts used next to this little bridge.

 We would cut through the park while walking on the way home from school. 

We would look under this bridge for water spiders, salamanders, and other wildlife.  It's also the place that I remember "falling in" once or twice!  That was followed by a walk home, dripping wet, acting scared and insisting that it was an accident so mama wouldn't be mad that I was wet.

The hill across the street from our house was our "sledding hill".  Kids don't sled down that hill anymore, but it was perfect when we were young.  And, again, within yelling distance.

(One of my brothers sledding down the hill)

Once, a friend & I were riding bikes, and had the great not so great idea to ride our bikes in the mud of the baseball field.  I ended up getting mine stuck; we couldn't pull it out of the mud.  I remember going home and getting mama; she walked down and got it out of the mud.  She was not happy with me at all!  The park is the place where, as a 7th grader, this same friend & I would go to sneak cigarettes that she had swiped from her dad. 

One time, I was in the park with one of my little brothers.  There was some kid harassing, and I asked him his name.  When he said it, I repeated it and told him it was a sissy name.  Apparently he kept on bothering us, and I ended up throwing dirt in his face and telling my brother to run.

As I got older, the tennis courts were where I spent most of my "park time".  That was where the Small Town Tennis Team held our practices and matches.  I could cut through a neighbor's yard and be home in 2 minutes.  Literally.

The park is still a very busy place.  When I moved back to the area, CH mentioned that he loved seeing the kids riding their bikes or walking through the park to school.  When I was growing up, the walking trails in the upper section weren't there.  People will sit in the field on the hill to watch the 4th of July Fireworks (this hasn't happened in the past few years due to budget cuts).  People still have picnics in the lower section.  I think the park is actually used more today than it was when I was growing up.  One of the nice things about the Small Town is that the park is a priority so that the next generation can say that the park has a special place in their hearts, too.

7 comments:

  1. I love hearing the memories about your town and you growing up. It sounds so magical.

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  2. Wow,your park is beautiful and I can see why it is kept up. Lucy from Lucy's Reality

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  3. Parks have always been a big deal in my growing up...and memories. I love them.

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  4. I love parks too, it's why I feel so blessed to live where I do (which happens to be my last blog post topic! haha)

    alioffthemark.com

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  5. Your park is very beautiful. Growing up in a small town we were within walking distance of a park and now my kids are too. Thanks for posting such great pics and reminding me of how nice parks can be

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  6. Reading and seeing your park brought back memories of some lovely parks I've visited. Thank you for the trip to memory park. :)

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  7. Just have to correct you...that's a softball field, not a baseball field! Geez, don't you know the difference by now!

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