Damn. We just had metal slides that burned the crap out of you, merry-go-rounds that flung you into the next town if you couldn’t hold on tight & monkey bars that broke bones and chipped teeth when your foot missed a step lol.
I grew up in rural, mountainous east Tennessee, and coal mining was one of the key industries in that region. I remember very well climbing all over a coal tipple that was at least 100 feet high. Coal tipples were used to dump coal down an inclined steel ramp with various spaces between the steel rods.... it was a cheap and gravity based way to sort different sizes of coal. My friends and I climbed all over that thing when no one was around, and it could have easily killed us if we'd fallen. Ah, good times.
A 20-foot long rope tied to a branch oak tree growing on the bank of the Orange river - best "toy" I had as a kid...until the day the rope broke mid-swing when I was still over the shallow water near the bank - I needed help walking the two miles back home that day and my tail-bone hurt for a month. My friends and I spent the next day scrounging the neighborhood for a suitable replacement rope.
My 'play' ground consisted of 15 acres of woods, a stream, and an abandoned sand pit filled with junked cars! The cars were great fun but you had to watch for copperheads!
When I was little we heated with a wood stove that was fascinating to me. My Mom really had to watch or I would be at the stove, she said "hot" and swiped my hand away before I could touch it. Worrying that I might get seriously burned my parents finally stood by and let me touch it, Ok now I know what hot means.
We had a sledding hill behind our house. A steep incline, a curve, then down the riverbank onto the frozen river. We could really get flying on the old Radio Flyer! Best part, my Dad helped us make it.
Damn. We just had metal slides that burned the crap out of you, merry-go-rounds that flung you into the next town if you couldn’t hold on tight & monkey bars that broke bones and chipped teeth when your foot missed a step lol.
I grew up in rural, mountainous east Tennessee, and coal mining was one of the key industries in that region. I remember very well climbing all over a coal tipple that was at least 100 feet high. Coal tipples were used to dump coal down an inclined steel ramp with various spaces between the steel rods.... it was a cheap and gravity based way to sort different sizes of coal. My friends and I climbed all over that thing when no one was around, and it could have easily killed us if we'd fallen. Ah, good times.
A 20-foot long rope tied to a branch oak tree growing on the bank of the Orange river - best "toy" I had as a kid...until the day the rope broke mid-swing when I was still over the shallow water near the bank - I needed help walking the two miles back home that day and my tail-bone hurt for a month. My friends and I spent the next day scrounging the neighborhood for a suitable replacement rope.
My 'play' ground consisted of 15 acres of woods, a stream, and an abandoned sand pit filled with junked cars! The cars were great fun but you had to watch for copperheads!
I didn't have poisonous snakes to deal with fortunately :)
I did have a local park with a 'slide' that was down the side of a mound of concrete as tall as a house. I used to ride my bike down it :D
When I was little we heated with a wood stove that was fascinating to me. My Mom really had to watch or I would be at the stove, she said "hot" and swiped my hand away before I could touch it. Worrying that I might get seriously burned my parents finally stood by and let me touch it, Ok now I know what hot means.
My Dad: “If he’s smart - he’ll only do it once.”
“What’d you learn?”
“Here’s $20 - I don’t wanna see you til Monday.”
I remember winters in WA in elementary school, after it would snow at first recess kids were out for blood in a giant snow ball fight.
We had a sledding hill behind our house. A steep incline, a curve, then down the riverbank onto the frozen river. We could really get flying on the old Radio Flyer! Best part, my Dad helped us make it.