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Great memories everyone!

My Junior High building was in the old Senior High building built back in the great depression...it had the high ceilings, ceiling fans, transom vents, and all that they could do to ventilate the place - back in the day.

The fire escapes were indeed metal tubes down the side of the building - they all seemed to have a burr or two, to rip your pants and cut your ass.

Bomb drills were a trip. The principal coming in on the intercom and telling everyone to get down - the commies had launched an attack. What a crock that turns out to be.

I'm very glad to have lived when I've lived - the best of times, the worst of times. ;-)

I guess, what I am the saddest for, is that todays children have such a very different childhood....

When I was a kid, I guess by todays, standards, I was just plain dumb....we knew not to talk to strangers, but we were not frozen with the fear, that we might be grabbed off the streets, or grabbed from our homes....

We had TV, but more than that, we had our imaginations...TV was great, but it did not fill our time...we still played jumprope, and tag, and 'Cops and Robbers' and rode our bikes, and best of all, we got filthy rotten dirty and enjoyed getting that way...

Nothing was better, than coming into the house, so tired from playing, so dirty from all that playing, and then taking a nice hot bath, getting into our PJs, and then and only then, did we bother to watch TV...accompanied by ice cream or popcorn...

Today, the kids have TV and 100s of channels, electronic games, the computer and the internet...a kid could stay indoors all summer if they chose, and still be amused by what was on a 'screen'....I am all for progress...goodness knows I love TV and the internet as much as anyone...

But I also love to get away, go camping, escape to the mountains, enjoy life away from all that progress...

For the number of kids living in our neighborhood, I am shocked at how few I see outside playing in the summer air...some would say, I dont keep up, that progress and all the new fangled gadgets can amuse the kids for hours, just inside their homes...and I guess each generation of kids and parents have their own way of looking at what passes for childhood experiences...

For me, I am just so glad that I was a child, when I was...

I think it was as you say, Loddy, the best of time, the worst of times..perhaps that is how each generation of kids looks at their childhoods...I still think, those of us growing up in the 50s had it so very good, and sadly, it will never be that good again...

Today, I am afraid to talk to any child, I do not know personally, because I fear being arrested...the fear of having your child abducted is so rampant...and many parents, rightfully so, over react, in an attempt to protect their children....Childhood should be a time of innocence, a time of exploration, a time to feel safe, a time to play, and play hard, and a time to learn about the world...sadly that has to now be tempered with constant concerns for safety...

Ah, my mind meanders...