I can't sleep tonight. All these memories coming back to me for some reason. I remember vividly my Grandma's, climbing trees, playing on the tree swing, eating anything and everything I wanted from her huge garden, playing hide and seek with cousins, and brothers, and so on.

Sometimes I wish I could experience what it felt like to be a child again. So carefree, and joyful. Things were much simpler and a lot more fun.


So what are some of your fondest childhood memories?

They would have to be the times when I used to explore places by myself. I would go anywhere I can be alone to explore or draw, which are usually closed or abandoned buildings. I would climb fences, jump on roofs, swing on ropes, anything that would challenge my so-called invincibility. I swear, I thought I could fly.

All memories that included the ocean. Just digging bare feet in the warm sand and feeling the wind play with my hair.

And those incidents where I snuck in my brother's Martial Arts classes and secretly studied with them. I imagined I was a ninja on a mission.

Aww the times we all use to play baseball together or the time when my dad had built a snow-cone stand and put it out in front of the house as long as we helped out we got to eat all the snow-cones we wanted too

Has to be when I met my first wife-to-be at 12 years of age, and we'd literally spend hours behind the church in this little cubby hole kind of place in the bushes kissing and talking and planning on the life we were going to have together... alas, reality turned out much differently.

Playing outside ALL day....riding my bicycle EVERYWHERE....helping my daddy work on his old cars (he always had a project in work).... playing in the sprinkler and on the slip-n-slide....sitting on the kitchen counter helping my granny cook Sunday dinner for everyone... sitting on her big front porch drinking tea so sweet, no matter how much you drank you were still thirsty....hiding in the ravine behind our house, smoking grapevine cigarettes (LOL)....going raiding on Halloween.....and those are just a few of the things I remember I loved to do when I was younger. Those were the days!!

i remember the first time i went skiing....

it was like trying ice cream again for the first time!

Watching Saturday Morning cartoons from 7AM to 12PM then going outside and not coming back in til dinner time. Neighborhood hide and go seek with all the kids in the area. Being able to go trick or treating- not having to worry about any weirdos. There was one street that would have a big outdoor Halloween party involving all the houses, and you could just walk down the middle of the street and get tons of candy.

was at soccer practice with a new team. the coach says "let's work on midfield crosses" - stacks a bunch of balls on the left side of the field and walks 30 yards down the right side...holding his right hand high in the air he says "I want you to put them right here" now go!

i was first in line struck the ball and hit his hand which was still up....



he gives me a look and rolls his eyes...

but i wound up playing left half most of the year...

Endless hours of games with my sister; SuPerfection, Parcheesi, Go Fish. Rummy, War, Backgammon, Sorry, Connect Four, Battleship, Master Mind, so many others. Our bedroom was the whole upstairs, an attic really, we got so many splinter in our feet when we first moved in. Then our mom laid 1'sq black and white linoleum tile that was so cool in our sunshine yellow room with spring green trim. We would move all the furniture to either end of the room and play checkers with our shoes on what we thought of as the world's biggest checker board! Got in so much trouble with the neighbor when all the kids on the block picked his grapes to engage in a grape spitting war, you'd remove the outter purple skin and spit the squishy green ball from inside at each other and they'd stick to anything. We all got whoopin's for that one. Playing Ghost in the Graveyard. And I was 9 in Jan '78, after the blizzard we and the neighbor kids across the street and two houses over decided to tunnel across and meet in the middle. We worked so hard, probably 6' to 8' in our dad realized what we were up to and came out yelling. We hadn't even considered a cave in. I remember him swinging that shovel, knocking it down and being so heartbroken.

I had a boy who use to live behind me and we would always go to the park across the street from his house. We would spend all our free time together. Playing on the jungle gym, climbing trees, and running all over.
The best was when we would climb the crab apple trees and throw them at people. Oh the bruises we got from when people threw them back sometimes.

Dad sharpening my spear and machete. Packing my canteen and a sandwich and my bolas. Then taking off down dry creekbeds and through the cactus scrub to hunt rattlesnakes and munch on pricklypears till the sun went down.

Those days lasted forever. Dad never worried. God it was so much fun to just be aboriginal. Couldn't do that these days.......

The neighbor 2 doors down had a huge Bing cherry tree.It was so big that the whole block came & got some cherries & he was happy the fruit didn't go to waste so it worked out well with all concerned.

Yea, those were the days