My childhood was awesome. I wish I could go back to that care-free lifestyle again. I grew up in Las Vegas. The summer's were excruciating. I just cannot remember a day that I wasn't outside though. I LIVED on my bike. When I was younger, I had the coolest girly bike around. It was blue and pink. I had huge handlebars, to give my friends rides. It had a banana seat, and these fenders over the tires. I was a stunt-man on that bike too! I would ride up the long row of houses as fast as I could slam backwards to put on the brakes and leaves skid marks that would be houses long. I learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels by four. I learned how to ride with no hands, and learned how to go put my feet up on the handlebars and "relax" down the neighborhood. I learned how to ride my bike, jump off and run next to it, then jump back on my bike without missing a step. My friend had a half pipe in the driveway of his house, I would be on that a lot. And when he wasn't home, we would make our own ramps out of scrap wood laying around. I had another friend farther down the street, who didn't play with the rest of the gang. I would go there every once in a while. We would play cops and robbers, and eat "astronaut" ice cream, and just do the most odd things. He was that one friend that collected snakes, tarantulas and lizards. If they died, I would help him bury them. We would often jump his back concrete wall into a bike heaven. It was still an undeveloped area in Las Vegas. Still is, but now it's all covered and not fun. There was 'real' danger here. broken wood. A giant jump that was all dirt and about 10 high. Pipes, rusty nails. You name it. It was one of those areas that, if you got hurt, you didn't tell your parents. You didn't go home crying, because that would end all the fun.
I got back in touch with a best friend of my childhood again. Angelina. I sincerely doubt that she would ever read this. Anyway, there was a picture on her facebook of her in a tree. She was the friend that was the tree-climber. We were always climbing trees together. Taking risks of jumping down from the trees. There was a picture of her, all grown up now, in this tree, just sitting there. As though she is deep in thought. That's what inspired this blog. It reminded me of when I was a kid, if there was something on my mind, I would climb a tree and sit there until things started making sense again. (yup that's the actual photo)
I wish I could go back to the time, where sitting in a tree to figure things out was just part of the norm. I wish life was as simple as it is through the eyes of the child. Maybe everyone should climb trees more often and just sit. Or ride a bike until your legs fell off. When sundown meant time to go home and eat dinner. When life was about being lived, without the worry of someone else watching you. Waiting for you to mess up. When life was about learning and doing what you think is right and not following protocol. I leave with this: What can you do, in your life, to bring back the care-free lifestyle of a child?
