We used to walk 2 miles to school...
 

Well I actually never did, but it's that same old saying about how tough it used to be, ..and how tough we used to be. Last week I was vacationing in N.Dakota with the family and took the boys golfing (they like it!). I mostly ride a cart these days due to back problems but I used to walk and carry ..sometimes 54 holes in one day ..and often in 90+ heat, ..and could never get enough. My boys (16, 18) were "beat" after RIDING 18 holes (88 degrees). Wimps!

Then I helped my brother-in-law (the local mechanic) recharge the AC on two John Deere tractors. It was haying season and nobody would dare go out without AC. One guy let his Dad cut hay all morning until we arrived and fixed his AC. And everybody was baffled how anyone ever farmed on open (no cab) tractors.

(Rode 35 today. Perfect day.)

and it's not even really hot yet, is it? I remember going with my grandfather to what he called the field (it was and extremely large garden) and watching him plow w/a horse. Later he got an ol John Deere tractor that didn't run half the time. We used to go over to the field and carry water in an old crock jug.

But my parents walked 4 or 5 miles to school. I just had to go 2 blocks.

My grandma walked barefoot in the snow 5 miles with a crust of bread in a milkbucket. My dad hitchiked 5 miles to and from school, always on the lookout for teachers or priests. Apparently all the boys hitchiked, but they were required to wear the school ties while doing it or they'd get disciplined in school.

These are the stories my family expects me to believe.

Only a mile walking to my elementary school, but I could not imagine not walking it. After all, when would there be the chance to goof off with parents driving you to and from school?

I used to walk to school but I didn't have to climb any hills because, in those days, the earth was still flat.

You must be slightly older than me because I walked uphill on the way to school. Of course it was downhill after school and I could make better time getting home:)

Where's Dana Carvey when you need him?

"Life was simpler then. There wasn't all this concern about hy-giene! It my days, we didn't have Kleenex. When you turned seventeen, you were given the family handkerchief. ... It hadn't been washed in generations and it stood on its own ... filled with diseases and swarmin' with flies. ... If you tried to blow your nose, you'd get an infection and your head would swell up and turn green and children would burst into tears at the sight o' ya! And that's the way it was and we liked it!

Life was a carnival! We entertained ourselves! We didn't need moooovin' pitchurrrres. In my day, there was only one show in town -- it was called "Stare at the sun!" ... That's right! You'd sit in the middle of an open field and stare up at the sun till your eyeballs burst into flames! And you thought, "Oh, no! Maybe I shouldn't've stared directly into the burning sun with my eyes wide open." But it was too late! Your head was on fire and people were roastin' chickens over it. ... And that's the way it was and we liked it!

Progress?! Flobble-de-flee! In my day, when we were angry and frustrated, we just said, "Flobble-de-flee!" 'cause we were idiots and we didn't know what else to say! Just a bunch o' illiterate Cro-Magnons, blowin' on crusty handkerchiefs, waitin' in lines for our head to burst into flame and that's the way it was and we liked it! "

Good one! We had to walk to grade school, junior high, and high school. I could have a ride to HS because my dad was a teacher but I liked the walk thru the woods to the school. Of course there was always 2 feet of snow on the ground even in May, or at least that is what I told my kids.

I had to walk up and over a big hill on my 2 mile trek to school. So, it really was uphill both ways. :eek:

Nobody rode a bike to school?

My greatest pleasure was fishing the key out of my pocket to unlock my metallic green J.C. Higgens
at 3:00 each day, riding home the long way and looking for ways to get into trouble.

I feel sorry for the kids today trapped in the backseat of mom's SUV, texting each other.

Of course. How do you think I got started on this path to perdition called bicycling. :rolleyes:

I started bicycling to school in 2nd grade and haven't been able to get rid of the habit yet.

I rode to school and delivered newspapers over a long, spread out route, on my bike. I still can't believe I got separated from riding for so many years after I grew up.

I rode my green Schwinn Sting Ray ... with green banana seat ... to school. Dogs everywhere, and the Halt Repellent Spray handn't been invented yet... Good thing I could spin that Schwinn at 250 RPM whenever the big dogs had me in their radar.

I actually had a pretty mis-spent youth. I really did walk over two miles to school. It gave me time to smoke a little marijuana (No, I don't think I'll ever run for president. So, the nation remains safe.)

Interestingly, and somewhat related to this topic, I read a study yesterday on personality and older people. The most reliable data related to personality traits continues to show that personality remains relatively stable over one's lifetime, with the exception of major life changes having some impact. However, the new data from longitudinal stuides now is showing a pattern over the last five generations of increasing levels of flexibility as people age. Each generation being just a bit more flexible in their willingness to accomodate change than the previous generation. Additionally, there is growing evidence that our sense of what our personalities were when we were younger grow more distorted with age. Interesting stuff.

Well, I never walked two miles to school. A 1/2 a mile or so. Some years ago, they rebuilt the road in front of my old elementary school, widening it by an entire lane in the process. You already know where I'm going with this: Yep, it was a parking lane for all the parents, driving the kids to school. I just seem to remember a time when Moms could hand the kids their lunch, and send them out the door, without ever thinking that the kids might wind up on a Milk Carton.

There is some good news though: I had taken a vacation day back in May, and rode past the place. I spotted something that made me say "What the,,,,!" The bike rack was darn near full. I kid thee not, the bike rack, that I thought had been abandoned, was just about full of kid sized bicycles. All different types, some different sizes, a few with those orange safety flags. So, maybe there's hope after all.

When we walked to school, my brother and I had to walk on rocks because dirt hadn't been invented yet.

I rode my bike to school. About 2 miles. Had a big Schwinn with a big spring on the front for the front suspension. We never had to lock our bikes.

We had to walk a mile and a half, up a steep hill, then cross commuter railroad tracks. In the fall, we would march for 2 hours after school in the HS band, then go home over the same mile and a half. Most of our parents were of good European stock and thought this was good exercise.
I guess that explains why I could never gain any weight. Oh what I'd give to have that problem today.
My kids think I'm making it up when I tell them how we commuted to school. They still complain about walking 3 blocks to the school bus. Times change I guess.

We were to poor to have shoes, so we had to walk barefoot on a gravel road 15 miles up hill both ways. LOL