Youth and the Outdoors

Entry #13

4-1-12

      I have chosen to reflect on some of the outdoor activates which were a large part of my entertainment throughout my childhood. I am the youngest of three brothers, so we always had a friend to play with. Growing up in San Carlos Park in the late 80’s and 90’s provided us with ample places to enjoy the outdoors. Furthermore, we own 5 acres of wooded land. We would often engage in long battles of “Manhunt”. We called it that because it sounds way cooler than hide and seek. Manhunt is always played in the woods, never indoors. You could find a great hiding spot in the dense palmettos, cover yourself with leaves and pine needles, or even climb a big cypress or paper tree if you were brave enough. Also, we would just spend time exploring the seemingly endless expanse of trees. Looking back it is funny to think that my brother Garrick and I found a place we named “Fern Mountain.” We must have been really young because I have no idea what small lump of soil we declared a mountain. We also enjoyed setting empty cans and bottles on tree branches and sharpening our aim with BB guns. My brothers also engaged in catching snakes and lizards for fun, but I was too scared to participate. Another staple of my childhood was wiffle ball. You can’t start a game of backyard wiffle ball without first clearly defining which tree is designated as a foul pole and which tree defines a home run. Although it is somewhat morbid, I feel these are the fond memories I will reflect back to when I am at the end of my life like Solomon did from A Land Remembered. They were simple times filled with the laughter and love of my family