It’s August so take full advantage of being outdoors! This Saturday is deemed Play Outside Day. My friends and I spent 95% of our childhood summers outside. The only time we went inside was to eat, sleep, and for our moms to put calamine lotion on our mosquito bites. 

I had many besties on Dartmouth Ave! First, there was my sister, Michelle, and our next-door neighbors, Gail and Jan. Then down the street, there was Suzy, Marnie, the Peet guys, David, and many more kids that showed up to join the fun. Our neighborhood pulled out all the stops when it came to playing outside. We amused ourselves every day with games that I’m not sure exist anymore in the minds of Generation Z. 

The only thing we needed for a full day of outside fun was chalk, a ball, and our imagination. Jan and I loved drawing the board and playing hopscotch. You could always find chalk dust, squares, and numbers on one of our driveways all summer long. Next to it were a couple of our favorite rocks from my dad’s infamous front yard rock-bed thrown next to a board waiting to play a new round.

We loved playing SPUD. (Remember that game?) Red Light, Green Light was also a favorite, along with Freeze and TV Tag. Of course, when playing TV Tag the show I always shouted out first was, “The Brady Bunch”!

 Who else played Statues? That game channeled your creativity more than being really physical so when the temperature rose in the afternoon, this game was our go-to. From what I remember it was a little like charades. I vaguely remember it involving spinning a person and guessing what they were based on how they landed and staying still like a statue? It was goofy, but we loved playing it! 

When dusk came, playing Ghost in the Graveyard was a given. I can still feel the nervous butterflies when I was chosen to be “IT”. Chanting the infamous “One o’clock, two, o’clock”, all the way to “twelve o’clock midnight” still gives me goosebumps! When we played outside at my house the telephone pole between our house and Gail and Jan’s was usually “home base”. I wonder how many times our little hands reached and touched that pole over the years? Thousands, I’m sure.  

From right after breakfast until we were catching lightning bugs in the dark, my house at 161 and all the way down to the Murphy’s at 20 Dartmouth Ave. was our sacred territory. When I close my eyes for just a second, I feel so much gratitude that I experienced the best, simple, yet most memorable summers outside with my sister and all our neighborhood friends. 

On Saturday, August 6 for “Play Outside Day” put on your tennis shoes and maybe some striped tube socks and perhaps recreate a little bit of your childhood. Anyone up for a game of “Mother, May I”? 

A week ago, one of my best childhood friends passed away. As a little girl, I remember that Marnie’s dark hair was usually pulled back in a ponytail and she had the most friendly, cheeky smile. As an adult, she developed the greatest laugh, had such a kind soul, and was a constant in my life. This post is dedicated to her. Marnie, my life was better and so much fun because you were in it. I love you and you will always be my forever friend.