MAE JULIAN
FALL IN WAYNEDALE
Dear Readers,
I’ m taking time out as I continue to look for the journal with the stories of the artificial heart. I am sick of searching, but it has to turn up somewhere, sometime!
I know that fall is arriving there as well as Louisville, and I am bombarded with memories of my childhood. Back in the 50’s we didn’t have to worry about such things as the burning laws. All of us kids would gather rakes and build a monumental pile of leaves in the yard, by the sidewalk. We would invite all the neighborhood kids over and we would jump-dive into our leaves we had raked. We did this for at least a week until we had pulverized all the leaves. We tried to take out most of the sticks, at least the big ones, so no one would get poked in the eye. After we had pulverized all the leaves to bits, then Dad would light a fire and we would roast marshmallows over it after dark.
I know a lot of kids have fun on their computers, and I doubt that many look forward to raking leaves in a big pile to jump in, but I tell you that some of my happiest childhood memories come from that great event. It didn’t take much to make us happy back then. I can still smell the burning leaves. (Burning was allowed then). All up and down Old Trail Road the leaves burned. To the best of my knowledge, no kids got burned and nothing got set on fire.
Unfortunately, they don’t allow burning anymore, so that pleasure has been taken away. Some do-gooder must have put a stop to the fun.
At night we could lie in bed and smell the sweet remains of so many fires. We all had our windows open, because the nights were just perfect. I love fall, and I love the color changes. I am nostalgic, however, because I don’t think many kids rake leaves up and jump in them the way we used to do. I now see plastic bags piled up on the curbs for garbage pickup. What a waste of a ton of fun.
I loved the 50’s and I know back then we used to dream of what it would be like in the year 2000, but I would go back to the 50’s any day. Not so many rules. Kids were safe to run the neighborhoods, and we could stack leaves and jump in them. If kids today knew what fun it was, perhaps they would still do it.
Kids weren’t fat then, either. Now we have a fat epidemic. If kids built big piles of leaves and jumped in them all day…well, maybe they would burn a few calories!! At any rate, it was a fun time. I love Waynedale. I love Waynedale as it was in the 50’s and I hope that some of the kids of today feel the same.
Have fun this fall, kids. You don’t stay young forever, even though you don’t think so today.
Hugs to all,
Mae Julian
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