in 1962, I was coaching in Assumption, Illinois, which is a small farming community 22-miles south of Decatur. We lived in a small two-bedroom house at the edge of town on a blacktop. Across the street was a bean field and next to it was a tavern. One hot summer night in the wee-morning-hours with windows wide open I heard a cracklings noise and woke to a bright light. The tavern was a blaze. It burned to the ground. A few years ago, my Decatur neighbor's wood fence caught fire, which posed a threat to nearby houses. Had it not been for someone ringing our door bell, we would have slept through the excitement because our home was shut up tight with windows closed, the A/C bumping and bedroom ceiling fan whirling.
I recall as a kid nobody had air conditioning and adults sat outside of an evening to catch a breeze while children noises were plentiful as they played their yard and street games of hide 'n seek, Mother may I or kick-the-can. The nighttime noises of my youthful days rang out wit yelling, laughter and chattering sounds. I don't know about your neighborhood these days but mine is eerie as if Rod Serling might jump from behind my front yard bushes and tell me, "You're about to enter the Twilight Zone." Adults no longer sit outside and kids surely don't play outside. I read a magazine article the other day that reported a recent study concluding that kids 8-to-12 years old spend six hour daily on their electronic devises add another six hours of television viewing...well, you get the picture.
When I reached those teen years, my night-game activities changed as I began hanging out with my buddies on the city street corners. Why not? It seemed be the natural thing to do.
(Touch)
Night Games
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