oh remember the days

There's nothing better than sitting having a good mug of tea, the music playing in the background and your own thoughts and memories, it's as if you turn into the older generation when they used to tell you that they had to walk miles to school everyday and not a proper pair of shoes to walk in, it's that feeling that you get when you can remember certain things or a certain song comes on that reminds you where you were and what you were doing, even certain smells can trigger thoughts and memories.

I think that I am one of the many of a generation that has grown up seeing and doing a lot of things, I was born middle sixties and even tho at the time I was only four, I can remember the excitement of the first landing on the moon, I still remember running about in a space suit and helmet, I knew something was happening but I don't think I knew how special it was, now you have to remember as well this was in the days of black and white television, some people do have a theory that this event never happened but try and go back and tell that to a four year old at the time.

I have to say growing up was a fun time, but it was a hard time for my mam and dad bringing up us kids, my dad did two jobs to keep the wolf away from the door so only got to see him at weekends and that is if I was in, usually as soon as daylight hit my eyes I was awake and away playing, but there was always a ritual on a Saturday morning, my dad would go to the shops, buy his paper and our comics, we would have breakfast and he would read our comics first, I always got a comic called warlord and loved reading about the antics of lord peter flint, once I had finished breakfast and reading my comic I would be off and that would be me for the best part of the day.

As money was tight back then we only got money for sweets once in a while, so it wasn't unusual to see most kids walking about with a sugar or jam buttie, if we wanted sweets or juice we would go out and find lemonade bottles and take them to the shops where we would get two and a half pence a bottle, back then you could get a lot of sweets and a juice for five pence, if it was summer time we would head off down to the Solway for a swim or in my case a paddle and you never thought anything about danger, you just ran about laughing and joking, then at some point you would hear someone's mams voice shouting to get home, when someone's mam shouted it could be heard from a mile away, you don't hear that nowadays .

at night time we could still play out so long as it was just in the street, we would play kick the can or a game where you had to teams and you one hid while the other looked for them, if someone was caught they had to go stand by a street light, if you were lucky enough someone would sneak up hit the post and shout releazo and they were off again, simple games but a lot of fun.

Also if you can remember back there used to be power cuts where we had to sit under candle light, this used to be fun as mam and dad would tell stories and we would all sit laughing, we had a coal fire so this lit up the room even more, even when the telly was on there was only three channels but there was loads to watch, I used to love watching Michael Bentines potty time and never missed the cartoons, and if I got to stop up later when my oldest sister babysat I used to et to watch planet of the apes, when the telly finished I can still hear that high pitched whine.

I was lucky enough out of my family to be able to back down to where I was born and stay with my nana and granddad, I would spend the whole six weeks there in the summer, I have to admit I was spoiled by them, my nana would say count the change in the telephone box and I would sit counting all the copper and when I had it counted they would say right get yourself off to the shop and get an airfix kit, I would go out and play with my mates in the woods just up the road and a place called the metal hill, this was a hill that was made out of the coal pit over the years and we would play king of the hill, at a dinner time I would hear my nana shouting my name and I would happily head back for my egg buttie and tomato sauce, then back off out again.

We used to play in between two streets that were back to back and when the ice cream van came around I would run to my aunties and I knew she would get me one, then I would eat it as fast as I could then run around to my nanas before the ice cream van stopped outside hers and I would get another, also back then there was always a rag and bone man, he would have his cart pulled by a horse and he would go around putting balloons on the doors to say he had been round as usually there was stuff put out for him, we used to follow him and pinch the balloons off the doors but no one ever said anything.

Back then you could leave your doors open and not think anything of it, the neighbours would open the door and shout and if you were in they would say get the kettle on, the only time the door was locked was when the rent man came knocking on the door, I remember my nana saying get under the window don't let him see you, he would bang on the door then wait and bang again, I still remember my nana shouting we are not in, and away he went.

I could write loads more about building dens or the kind of music that was at the time which I must say was good, but I will leave that for another day, what I am trying to say is when you have memories and thoughts it is part of your life, unlike the past couple or so generations that wont have the memories that us of a certain age will, all they will have is oh can you remember when I beat you on call of duty, its a shame that the majority wont have anything to pass on to their kids and grandkids, but as they say life is what you make of it yourself.

If I have jogged a wee memory in your mind and made you smile then my job is done.