1953 . . .

The year before I was to start elementary school, they finally began building a new facility, so unlike my sister, I would never have to be bussed some ten plus miles away to the Preakness School.  The best thing about this new school was its location . . .  a hundred yards, through the woods, behind our across-the-street neighbors house.  For four years, we crossed our dead end street, cut through the Burwell's side yard, up the now much trodden path and there we were.  Its playground became our playground with towering . . . now prohibited slides, huge swing sets, basketball hoops, sand boxes, hop scotch and four square areas.  A dream come true.

But what I really remember was playing there while it was under construction.  Our end of Cedar Road at that time, had all of nine or ten homes and twenty-four kids.  As soon as the workers left, we swarmed in, running down the halls, checking each room for the slugs punched out of the electrical boxes that we were sure would fit in the those old bottle holding Coke machines . .  . but of course never did.   We skittered, bent over, through the housings that would eventually hold the heating and electrical wiring, like moles in a newly laid lawn.  We giggled at the rows of toilets with yet to be built partitions, and danced through the would be cafeteria/auditorium.  A regular phantasmagorical kid heaven.

And as I was sitting here, reminiscing over the fun we had that spring and summer so long ago, I realized that while I would indeed be a member of the first kindergarten class at Pines Lake Elementary school, I was, until that September, all of four years old.  No one minded that I was away from home for hours or that we played in a construction site.  And, this was not neglect.  This is what it was like in 1953.  Hooray for growing up in the 50's!