For most of my elementary school years my family lived down a paved one-lane road that led to a dead-end dirt road with only three homes. I was so jealous of my friend Elizabeth who lived in a real neighborhood that was always bustling with activity whenever I went to her house. It seemed as if half the kids in our school lived in that development. I was stuck with only my siblings to play with. Actually, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Having a big family has some benefits, and having playmates in the form of a sister one year younger and two older brothers is one of them. (My two youngest siblings were still babies and never got to enjoy our home in Mass. like we did. Sorry, Lisa.)
I also feel lucky now that there were so many places outdoors that we were able to explore:
The huge boulders along "the lane" were perfect for climbing on (except when they became overgrown with poison ivy). One relatively flat boulder we nicknamed "table rock." It was so named because of the many picnics my sister and I had there.
The stone wall in the back of our property was another fun place to climb down or sit on.
Our small back yard was covered in violets during the summer. My brother Don, who has always been interested in trying new foods, even used them once to make about a half gallon of violet syrup.
I used to love playing in the "secret room" under the huge weeping willow tree in our side yard (until it became infested with ticks).
Our side yard was a nice size for playing baseball. One Sunday my grandparents came to visit, and after church we all played baseball together. My grandmother pitched the ball to my dad. The ball came right back and hit my grandmothers face, breaking her glasses. It was said, "That's what we get for playing on the Sabbath."
There was a round cement covered well in that side yard. It became a bench where I used to sit and wait for dragonflies to come to me.
I could never understand why anyone would plant an apple tree that produced fruit you couldn't eat. We had a crabapple tree in our front yard, and although the apples were nasty it did make a fun climbing tree. I hung upside down from its branches many a time.
My mother made quite a garden at that house. She had a big herb garden filled with good smelling plants. She also planted flowers along the walkways. We had beautiful tulips, pansies, johnny jump-ups, and many more.
My dad planted a vegetable garden, and come harvest time we ate zucchini and yellow squash at least every other night! One year my parents encouraged each of us kids to pick a vegetable, find a spot of land, and plant our seeds. I had no vision of what one little seed could become. I planted my entire packet of green bean seeds in one square foot of soil. It didn't take too long to realize that was a mistake.
Behind our property was a patch of blackberry bushes growing wild. We were motivated to pick a bowlful to eat them over vanilla ice cream.
Beyond the blackberry bushes was "the pond" which was fun to explore during the warmer weather. One summer we went out on a small inflatable raft, but I was a little freaked out about touching the water after I discovered it had
leeches. One memorable day while my mom was away, my brother and sister floated in the raft while my other brother played cannonball. He missed his target (the water surrounding their raft) and hit my sister instead. My mom pulled up right after the ambulance arrived. All turned out well, but that is a day none of us will forget.
I loved the pussy willow tree by the pond and often cut small branches to bring back home.
The pond always froze in the winter, and we had countless hours of fun ice skating. We would bring a shovel and carve out roads and paths to skate through. Skating on the pond in the evening was one of the most peaceful and magical times in my life.
We also explored the woods on the other side of the dirt road from our house. We occasionally came across old abandoned cars and other junk. I liked to look for soft patches of fuzzy green moss. The "sand pit" was another fun place to play. In the winter it made a great sledding hill for my brothers. (I was a little nervous about crashing into a tree.)
If we went far enough we would reach the golf course. I stayed away from the golf course, afraid that I might get into trouble for trespassing. I did go out on the golf course one evening and managed to get lost with my brother. It was well after dark before we made it back home. That was the first and last time I did that.
I'm sure that my mom was happy to have us kids out of the house and our from under her feet. She had a
conch shell that she would
blow to summon us back home. In fact, she had a system for calling us back. One long call meant that everyone should come home; one short call was a special request for David; two short calls for Don; three short calls for me; and four short calls for Jen (birth order, of course). It seems kind of odd looking back at it now. But at the time it really made perfect sense. The sound of the conch shell carried quite far.
I originally started this post planning to talk about my current neighborhood. But I started thinking about the home of my childhood and got carried away. So many good memories I have, none of which I have recorded anywhere until now.
My kids don't have the same opportunities for free roam that I had, but I'm happy where we are and I hope they are too. More on that tomorrow.
Todd with Rocky Road ice cream.
Afton enjoys ice cream, too! 
