Barbara J. Hamby

Now and Then

Tonight while I was swimming some kind of party was going on in a room adjacent to the pool, visible through two walls of sliding glass doors. All the blinds were open and the room was full of people and balloons. Children were running around and playing with the balloons. I thought how unusual it is these days to see children in motion and playing with something as simple as a balloon.

It seems to be much more common to see them glued to television or computer screens, or involved in electronic games, some quite complicated.

I remember how much fun my sisters and I had, as children, playing with a crate that an icebox had been packed in. It made a great playhouse. Our fertile imaginations transformed it into a palace. Recently I saw pictures of a 400 square foot playhouse built by an elderly couple for their grandchildren at considerable expense. It looked adorable, but I doubt that those kids have any more fun than we did in our icebox crate.

Old folks have always bemoaned the changes they’ve seen in long lifetimes. I don’t believe the world is going to Hell in a hand basket, but not all the changes that have occurred in my lifetime are necessarily for the better.

I definitely enjoyed the rare sight of children enjoying simple pleasures this evening while I enjoyed the water.