The Florida of My Youth - the Games We Played

The Florida of My Youth – The Games We Played By Franklin Price 10/20/2019 Our family had no TV 'til nineteen-fifty-three We had a console radio we listened to for free No quality of FM only AM which was grand At night we got a hop and skip from far off in the land We heard the grand old opry from Nashville Tennessee Listened to the Friday fights, could hear but could not see The Lone Ranger and friend Tonto fought for what was right George Burns and Gracie Allen had fun into the night Many things to listen to but that was not the way To further entertain us, we had many games to play First of all the cards came out; Old Maid and Crazy Eight, Then must Go Fish or go to War, where defeat could be our fate Nothing complicated, to think much, not my choice Remember I was younger, only had a minor voice We played Five Hundred Rummy which I could never win My siblings never let me, it was a good way to begin. When school was in I was alone, and played all by myself I got my rubber soldiers from their place there on the shelf Was both the friend and enemy for I was all alone No cell phones then to download games. We had a party phone. When other kids came over, the games for more than one Red Light – Green Light, Tag you're it, and Hide and Seek were fun Statue was a challenge and Dodge Ball was so great For some mental exercise,Twenty Questions was a date Imagination ruled our play, technologies were few When bored with what was happening, we thought of something new Made believe our bikes were horses and we rode them into town Drew our guns on bad guys and we quickly shot them down Hopscotch on the sidewalk, Jacks bought at the five and ten Maybe a game of marbles, or Pick Up Sticks that we might win Too many games to mention, played with kids that we had found It was best if we just got along, with so few of us around Political correctness did not exist back in the day We sometimes called each other names when we came out to play But before the day was over, we were better than before Because, who were we to play with, if not with our friend next door? If we got a little hungry sometimes this is what we'd do Search for empty soda bottles, that were worth a cent or two Take them to the country store, just a short way down the street Where just a few were traded for something good to eat There was penny candy, and a drink less than a dime To find those empty bottles just took a little of our time We made a game of searching, but we never kept the score We then shared what we bought with them at the little country store