Hopscotch then and now

Seattle had proper blocks with unbroken pavement perfect for a game of hopscotch or a starting point for evening hide and seek. At  one end of our block was an overgrown vacant lot with a huge tree that had fallen. Hours were spent down the block on that tree which often became a pirate ship rocking violently as we tried to shake each other off or holding spears made of twigs fighting off the invaders.

Seattle is a city of hills and one was at another corner of our block where we would gather the wagons and race down the hill, careening into another vacant lot filled with blackberry bushes where we tunneled for hours eating ripe and unripe berries. When the street lights came on we went home; berry juice staining us from head to toe and knees were scraped raw from tumbling out of the little wagons. We lived without hand sanitizer or cute bandaids . We looked  and smelled much like the wild Indians on the western shows on the tiny TV’s.

Then we moved to Kilmichael, MS, population 300 on any given Saturday afternoon. We traded the Seattle fog and rain for oppressive humidity and violent thunderstorms. Our eyes were wide with amazement. Where were the busses? The taxis? Other kids to play with? The sidewalks? Exchanging those for a little creek that only flowed after a big rain;  we spent hours building dams with mud and twigs; catching frogs and crickets.  Or we would climb into the huge barn filled with new smells of cows, poop, milk and dry hay that pricked and tickled us; clinging to our hair.  We still were wild Indians but now smelled of mud and the barn.

Now I find myself again in a foreign land. No longer riding the pirate ship but navigating the hobblestones;  as some call the streets here. I guess I still play hopscotch on the uneven and broken sidewalks but the lines are not clearly defined and stepping on a crack has serious consequences. New adventures still await around each block, ships of different kinds to be ridden and clothes to be cleaned from dribbling taco juice. I am still a bit of a wild Indian but not quite as smelly as before.