By: Dianne Whittington
Looking back on my childhood in Midland, the thing that first comes to mind is the freedom to be independent and to experience life as it happened. I certainly had rules and expectations that I would hopefully follow them. The rules changed as I grew older and they were always there to help me get older—not always the way I saw them. The independence part came early—even before we started 1st grade. It was leaving the house in early morning, roaming the neighborhood until lunch, leaving again and coming home for dinner. There was no one organizing the games we played. Imaginations ran wild and the only limits were to try not break the few rules. The 50’s and 60’s in Midland gave us an ideal time to grow up. There were not the frantic times of today–no TV, no cell phones, and a slower way of life. I must really be old now as I am beginning to hear myself say what my parents used to say to me when I was 30. I thought they had become senile.
Basecamp has made me go back in time and realize how lucky I was to find out about life in the confines of Midland. Some of those early memories are listed below:
We never locked our doors—car or house
Going barefoot most every place we walked trying to balance by walking on the curbs
Stubbing toes when we fell off the curbs
Stickers in our socks from walking through vacant lots
Hunting for horned toads
Sand storms
Sometimes snow and incredible ice storm sculptures in the trees and bushes
Evaporative coolers on top of the house
Blistering sunburns
Water balloon fights
Playing outside from dawn to dusk
Climbing Mulberry trees
Listening to Big John and Sparky Saturday on the radio
Tumbleweeds
Sleeping in the backyard under the stars
Forts made out of blankets and chairs
Paint by numbers kits
Breaking my arm on Todd Aaron’s swing set
Walking to the Village by ourselves to buy Kool aid and dipping sticks, candy cigarettes, & fireballs. We only needed 25 cents for all of the above and got change
Learning to ride a bike with a bell and a basket on wide Midland streets
Helping hang wet wash on an outside clothesline with clothespins
Milkmen bringing milk to the house
Getting into the movies free with a milk carton top
One thing I remember that was NOT in the water was fluoride. Bottled water was delivered weekly to our house.