Trending
Just reading those words causes me to break out in a cold sweat and my left eye to begin twitching! Never, and I do mean never, did you ever hear my brother or I saying that we were bored. First, we never were, there was always something to do and second of all my mother would have found something for us to do, something that we probably would not enjoy.
If we weren't working around the house, picking rocks out of the garden, or digging the dandelions out of the yard, we were reading or playing. My mother would do her best to make our chores into games. If we were delivering folded clothes into our rooms, they became pizzas, and we were the pizza delivery crew. If it was digging the dandelions, we thought we would surely become rich as she paid us $0.01 per pound. It is surprising how much dirt you can manage to leave on those roots when you are getting paid by the pound and no, we never became rich.
There was always grass to mow, the wash to hang out on the lines, the garden to weed, strawberries to pick, vegetables to harvest, and of course canning to do. Why produce is ready to can in the hottest months of the year I will never understand, but it is so. Don't get me wrong, however, there was always plenty of time to relax, play and visit.
I remember working really hard on summer mornings so that we could be done in time to head to the McClure Veterans Memorial Pool when it opened. It wasn't the closest pool, but it was free, and my frugal mother was always looking for ways to stretch our limited budget since she was a stay-at-home mom. We would usually pick up friends or cousins on the way, filling our station wagon with excited chatter.
On special occasions, we were given a coin or two so we could purchase something from the concession stand. One of my favorites was the McCraw's Giant Flat Taffy. It came in a rainbow of different colors and was wrapped in waxed paper. Each piece of taffy was 2 inches wide and 11 inches long. I'm sure If I tasted it now, I wouldn't be as impressed as it is probably pure sugar, but it certainly was a special treat back then!
Other days we would complete our chores before dad got home from work so that we could load up the boat and head to the Muskrat Springs boat access on the Juniata River. Before you conjure up images of a glistening, sleek boat with a beautiful paint job and matching vinyl seats, let me dispel that for you. Ours had been refurbished, repainted, re-fiberglassed, and just about any other "re" you can think of.
My dad would spend hours working on its tired, ginormous, Evinrude engine. He would stick the propeller in a metal garbage can full of water to test it out. I'm sure our neighbors just loved the sound of the engine firing up over and over. Once there, we would take turns water skiing. Yes, you read that correctly, we water skied on the Juniata! Our skis were the old wide wooden ones, and I actually became pretty proficient, even learning to ski slalom.
When we weren't working or at the river, you could often find my brother and I reading. My mother began taking us to the library early in life and thus began my love affair with books. Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Charlotte's Web, and my absolute favorites, the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series were some of my first loves. I spent hours engulfed in Nancy Drew mysteries, following the escapades of she, her boyfriend Ned, and friends Bess and George. I like to believe my tenacity may be rooted in her example. She never took no for an answer and always persevered until the next mystery was solved.
Another favorite anti-boredom activity was playing outside. If we weren't playing with our cousins down the street, we were playing with friends. There was kickball, flag football, Wiffle ball, badminton, croquet, bicycles, scooters, and a myriad of other outdoor games including lawn darts called Jarts.
Why anyone thought it was a good idea to allow children to toss weighted spikes through the air toward one another will always remain a mystery to me. They have since been banned. Oh, the things we lived through!
We also spent many summer evenings visiting family friends where our parents would sit and talk, and we would run barefoot through the grass capturing lightning bugs to place in our empty mayonnaise jars with holes poked in the lid. There was also the occasional drive-in movie where we would arrive early, meet our friends, and hula hoop until the movie started, usually starring someone like Don Knotts or Doris Day. The simple things beautiful memories are made of.
Perhaps the fact that someone felt there was a need to declare the month of July as anti-boredom month should be a wakeup call to all of us. There is so much in this big old world of ours that we have left to discover. Let's decide to make the effort to explore as much of it as we can.
I agree with the sentiment found in this wise quote: "There's no time to be bored in a world as beautiful as this" -- author unknown.
•••
Rhonda S. Kelley, Executive Director, Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce. I invite your comments to rhondak@juniatarivervalley.org or call the Chamber office at 717-248-6713.