Summertime. The neighbor’s above-ground pool was the scene of lots of laughter and games yesterday afternoon. “Marco Polo” and “Lifeguard” were a couple of games I could detect. If you closed your eyes, you could smell the chlorine and feel the warm pavement as you lay shivering from the cold water of the city pool.
Additionally, after a lovely ladies’ lunch where we reminisced about childhood games, I couldn’t help but wonder at entertainment we kids played non-stop – “Guard the Belgium.”
I’m not sure where we got that name, because it really was just “Kick the Can” in another form. I figure it came from the Belgian Guard and we just improperly absconded the name. (Although, how would we even have known anything about the Belgian Guard as ten-year olds? I don’t think we were exceptionally bright?)
Such fun! Nightfall brought the neighborhood together to run and hide and chase and seek. My favorite spots were on the roof of the playhouse, lying flat, or in the gutter of the street where absolutely no one looked – and thankfully no one parked! I kept those places safe by departing from them when everyone was in the front yard. Youthful cunning and treachery to entertain us in the dark.
Hot muggy nights and screams of delight. That’s where I’m traveling today.
Loved this one.
xoxo
Ben