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Strange sighting in Northern Virginia
Today, as usual – I was walking our dog down the local road and was shocked to see two of our neighbor kids playing in their back yard; they are probably about seven and ten years old. They are our closest neighbor in one direction – about 1/4 mile, but we have much closer neighbors who have children who have grown up in the 18 years they have been here. It is extremely rare to see them in their yard (about 4 acres) and we have never seen them anywhere else. There are several other houses within a half-mile and the situation is the same.
Now, let me explain. We live in far north Northern Virginia. Our lot has about an acre of woods, across the street is probably 10 acres of woods with a creek and a swamp and a pond. About 1/4 mile to the west is “Short Hill Mountain” (emphasis on short, but it is steep) which is all wooded.
Even when my older brother and I lived in an apartment with our parents, we knew where the nearest woods, creek, swamp was and would spend hours there, making forts and pretending all sorts of things. Our parents had no real idea where we were and that seemed ok as long as we got home for dinner.
Once I got a bicycle (bought from a neighbor with $3 of my paper route earnings), I could be anywhere.
When we moved to Maryland, my brother and I could ride our bikes down some busy roads to the C&O canal near Glen Echo Park and from there, we could go for miles and miles.
Now, all of this was not without danger. Our mother might have figured that out when we lived in the apartment and excitedly brought home a dead copperhead snake we had killed by throwing rocks at it. (Since I was the youngest, I was delegated to make sure it was dead). We would shoot off rockets based on empty C02 cartridges filled with match heads and a fuse. Sometimes they flew and sometimes they blew up.
I also broke my back in a fall when my brother and I were practicing rock climbing on the C&O canal.
The other thing that seems to have changed is the interest of young boys (that’s all I know) in cars. Before I turned 16, I had a Fiat 600 (a whole ‘nother story) and learned to take it apart and put it back together. The nearest neighbors have a car that has sat in their drive for 15 years with no one looking at it. When I was a kid, I would be all over that. Our grandson who is about to turn 16 has no interest in driving.
I guess my point is that “kids being kids” is an important part of growing up and I don’t see that happening anymore. Some of it might be computer games, but I was about as nerdy as you could be (still am, I guess). We used to watch TV on Saturday mornings (Tarzan, etc), but that was about it.
Do you notice this also? How do we get back to childhood as a time to learn to deal with the world and the things in it?
Published in Culture
I used to bull’s-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home.
Don’t get me started on parking in Arlington! There are so many garages to navigate and narrow spaces with cars parked over the line. It’s trickier to drive here now for sure. I’m glad to avoid the major highways most of the time. Glad you got to go to the World Series!
Twenty-some years ago, when I started going on long bicycle rides through Amish country to the south of us, I would come across children playing outside and realized that it was something I hadn’t seen for many years. I enjoyed it. Sometimes those on bicycles on the roads would try to race me, and usually did pretty well. I excused myself on account of the panniers and camping gear that slowed me down. Sometimes I pass the horse-drawn buggies on the road, and sometimes (when I’m riding against the wind) I can’t keep up with them. One time a boy riding bareback on a pony took the opportunity to race me down the road, and another time a young boy (with a female companion) driving a small cart with a horse made sure I couldn’t catch up to them. They’d look back every now and then to make sure. It was a very hot day, and I doubt that boy’s father would have approved of him driving the horse that hard in those conditions. On one of my first rides I came across a rubber-wheeled horse-drawn wagon full of young kids, driven by a young mother who had stopped by the side of the road. She looked like she was having a great time; it reminded me of my own mother who liked nothing more than to be outside doing things with us kids.
Last month I went past a conservative Mennonite school in eastern Ohio, where the kids were playing baseball at recess time. The teachers were standing and watching. A few of the kids turned from their game and watched as I rode by. I’ve seen scenes like that before, but never that close up. This ball field was right next to the road. I often had the action camera on my handlebars turned on during this summer’s rides, but after I had passed them realized that this time it had been off. Too bad. I don’t usually stop to take photos of Amish people and most of them don’t care to pose for photos, or have rules against it, but if my camera happens to be on when I encounter a buggy, I just leave it on.
One time I stopped to talk to an Amish man doing some tree pruning at a historic house. When I asked about getting out my camera he said he didn’t want that (and some of his children were in the yard helping him, so I imagine he wanted to set a good example). But a few minutes later he mentioned a recent newspaper photo of Amish men doing some tree cleanup on a building site, and proudly pointed out, “That was me in the photo!” They have a conflicted relationship with photography. I am told that some Amish mothers treasure the rare photos they may have of their children, but keep those photos tucked away under the clothes in a dresser drawer.
Oh, one other scene that has stayed with me. Haw Patch road in LaGrange County, Indiana is a quiet road goes through gently rolling country. I came over a rise and coming toward me was a boy, maybe ten or eleven years old, walking behind a team of work horses in harness. His father was walking behind him, carrying an infant in his arms and giving the boy quiet instructions on how to work the horses. I would have liked a photo, but I just took it in with my eyes.
A lot of interesting activities take place outdoors in communities like that.
You know how there are non-religious people who put their kids in Catholic schools?
I’m thinkin’ Amish daycare centers!
I envy your cycling adventures. I am afraid I am past the cycling phase due to neck problems, but I used to do a lot of cycling on the country roads near where I live now. The house where we live is about 1/4 mile from the 80 mile point on my first Century (100 mile) ride. I thought I was at the end of the world. These days, many of the local roads that I used to cycle on have too much traffic to be very safe, since there are no shoulders and lots of blind turns.
I always felt like being on a bicycle was the best way to meet all sorts of people.
There are lots of days when the outside weather is at least tolerable if not pleasant. I utilize shade and sun to make my time outside more pleasant, now that I’m retired. But when I was a youngster in Ft. Worth, I played outside all day in 100+ degrees and never gave it a thought . . . back in the olden days.
I pretty much never go outside without a hat. Not a cap, a hat with a brim.