cranky old dude

So does anyone here still enjoy anything in life the same as they did
as a child? For example, as a youngster I used to lie on my back in the
grass and just watch the clouds go by for what seemed like hours on end.
I hardly do that at all anymore.

Two things that have NOT changed for me in all these too many years are:

First…the pure joy of riding my bike. No destination needed and no time
constraints involved, just ride where and how and as fast or slow as you
want to because it’s fun.

Second…Crouching down at the end of the train table and watching the lionel
locomotive come straight at you as it rumbles down the long straight and then
with a twist of the head, watching the caboose waddle away after the train
barreled around the curve. I never tire of that one.

These two joys have remained with me my entire life. New ones have definitely
come into my life, many of them to be sure, and others have left and now are only
faint memories….but these two remain alive and well.

sknhgy 

Fireworks

cyclinfool

Biking has been a natural attraction for me since childhood.

tim24k

Cycling in the early morning.

Ciao,
Timothy

Beverly

Making snow angels in the yard when we get the first big snow of the season. That's the only time I like the snow

Artkansas 

I still enjoy making art and telling stories. I enjoy goofing off and wandering around aimlessly. I enjoy reading and watching TV. And I enjoy waffles.

Bicycles are a given.

The Weak Link

When I was a kid I would get my parents' lighter fluid and pour it down an ant hill and then set fire to it. I would use the stuff as napalm if there were any survivors. It was pretty cool.


OK, I just made that up.

Kurt Erlenbach

Watching baseball at a stadium. When I was a kid, we went to Cleveland Indians games a couple of time a year. Cleveland Municipal Stadium held over 80,000, and it was not unusual for the Indians to bring in under 10,000 for a game. Now, I go to games played by the local single A team with a few hundred other people. Few things are more pleasant than watching live baseball on a warm summer night.

Artkansas 

I liked fire as a kid too. I was good at it and kept the fires in control. I'd take model cars and place them together in a crash and then add a little turpentine and a match for effect.

In the Boy Scouts, they had a one match rule for starting fires. Get it going on the first match or go hungry. That turned me pro. I learned that usually all the tinder you needed was left by others right near the fire. I'd never spend hours looking for it like others would. I was the 2nd best fire starter in the troop.

As a hippie, we would make "Zilchs". A plastic bag knotted into a long rope and then set on fire at the bottom with a pan of water underneath. The falling flaming plastic would make a "Zilch" sound when it fell.

Our other hippie flame toy was called "Flaming Groovys" You put rubbing alcohol in a 5 gallon Sparkletts bottle. You would roll it around to get vapor all over and drop matches in. That would light a horizontal layer of fire that would whistle as the layer of fire went down to the bottom. It was beautiful, and when it got to the bottom it would go out and start again at the top like a piston in a motor. When the flame went out, you covered the hole with your hand, let the pressure drop and then release it to create a vortex that sucks air into the bottle again and go. There was a real art to it.

When I got into college, I was in charge of special effects on the films. I made beautiful pink underwater explosions on cue. I also love model rockets. I'm considering joining Tripoli, but don't really have the time.

My ex was impressed when I made two fires on our honeymoon and both burned exactly the same.
When we barbecued, I started the fire, and she did the cooking.

So yes, fire is a toy I've always enjoyed.

Big Paulie

As a kid I used to love waiting for a favorite TV show to come on, and wallow in whatever world was created by that show. Bilko was a favorite, as was Love That Bob. I guess I had a weakness for cads.

I'm the same way today. I always have a favorite show or two I wait for, and enjoy watching it to the point of unreasonable-ness.

Digital Gee

I relate to the model trains, although I haven't had any for years. Other things I still love as much as when i was a kid include playing outside in the rain, especially if I can get muddy, hot chocolate, being outside in the snow so long I'm freezing my butt off, firing a cap gun, making a 'v' with my fingers and holding them up behind someone just before the camera is snapped, looking at the Christmas tree late at night when everyone else has gone to sleep, taking pictures with a camera, eating M&M's, putting on a brand new pair of sneakers, driving out in the country on a Sunday afternoon in the fall, eating Southern fried chicken, catching fireflies after supper, playing softball, having money in my pocket that I can spend on anything, eating popcorn at the movies, doing cannonballs in the swimming pool, the first day of school (doesn't happen much anymore!), and watching Leave It to Beaver.

Big Paulie

Agreed on the M&M thing, but the light brown ones are no longer made, and they were my favorites...

Louis

You guys crack me up.

I used to love to go to the orchard with firecrackers and a pencil. Make a hole in an apple or pear with the pencil, insert firecracker, light fuse, throw fruit high into air and watch it blow all to hell in a million pieces. Great fun.

Another round of monkeyshines with apples was...apple slinging. Cut a switch about 5 feet (1.5meter) long from a tree, push sharp narrow end of switch into apple until it goes completely through. Holding the fat end of switch, it is possible to sling that baby very, very far. One can only imagine the possibilities the "Apple Slinger" presents to a boy growing up in a rural area.

I love the "hi tech" shenanigans pulled off by Artkansas, and I thought I was cutting edge.

divingbiker

I still love back-to-school time in August, when the stores are selling notebooks, paper, pencils, pencil bags, etc. I used to spend hours picking out just the right things.

I haven't had a first day of school for many, many years now, and I don't have kids or grandkids to buy things for, but I still look through the newspaper ads and if there's a school supplies charity drive I'll go buy a bunch of stuff to donate just for the fun of picking things out.

Jet Travis

I used to love getting out of school on Friday afternoon. Still do.

maddmaxx 

Hunting and just spending lazy days in the woods. If you saw an armed 14 year old today there would be a SWAT team there in 90 seconds. The local farmers would pay a bounty for woodchuck and fox.

Now the days in the woods are on a bike.

Old Hammer Boy

Sleeping in my tent, eating smores by the camp fire, playing on my ham radio, tickle fights (now with my wife), holding my cat until he meows and wiggles to get away, inhaling whipped cream from an aerosol can--and probably a lot more.

Garfield Cat

The excitement of getting a real Christmas tree, decorating it, snow, Christmas songs, the anticipation of Christmas morning, the big Christmas dinner.

Artkansas 

I NEVER loved back-to-school time.

Thrifty1

The castor/alchohol fuel smell and ***** bee sound of a model airplane engine. The thrill/anxiety of a model airplane's "maiden flight". Fall colors. The smell of freshly cut grass. Armed Forces day air shows. Antique/classic car shows.
I still look forward to Fridays and weekends even though I'm retired

Little Darwin

I did model rockets as a kid in a science class, but I don't know that I would necessarily want to go as large as Tripoli, but it does look interesting. I would like to build a couple more small ones, with the C and D solid fuel engines for fun. Especially designing your own rocket from some rubing and a pile of balsa wood... lots of fun!

The things I would really love to do, I never did because I couldn't afford it, and that is radio controlled cars... and maybe planes... They have always fascinated me, but I have never had any, other than the inexpensive ones I bought my sons as gifts... to try to spark an interest. But as much as I hoped they would get "into it", they never did.

Digital Gee

Have to add one.

I was fascinated with girls when I was a kid. I'm fascinated with women as a 50+er.

PS: You can substitute perplexed, confused, overwhelmed, delighted, mystified, obsessed, curious, and several other words for "fascinated".

Big Paulie

I still get depressed when I see back to school sales in August...and I haven't been in school since 1974!

Thrifty1

Girls had Cooties.......

Jet Travis

I said that too. But I never meant it.