Outdoor life

I picked up a burrito for lunch today and headed for my old neighborhood park to eat. I lived there from age 11 till 23 and moved back later and raised my kids in the same house for most of their early years. It was a warm and very windy day which is sometimes annoying but it felt cleansing today; like my not-so-great mood was being swept out of me in this amazingly wild, raw, and intrinsic way. I'm finding it hard to give this feeling words but it was really powerful.

I got to thinking about how much of my young life was lived outdoors. I loved being outside. I'd grab a snack after school and usually headed for this same park. I sat there today feeling really grateful that I was able to live this life and that other kids did the same. The park was a meeting grounds for basketball, football and softball games, kite flying, skateboarding and hitting tennis balls against the backboard in the handball courts, just to name a few. We barely had Atari video games (Pong) so kids were actually out playing. I think that's a lot more rare now and I'm thinking pretty sad. I guess each new generation in this society has it's way of having fun and they don't miss what they don't have. I'm glad that it was that way for me though. It was a really nice fit.