Thank you Midnight Rider for the suggestion. As a kid, were you a "free range kid" out of the house and doing whatever

[FirstLight]

21. I think I had a pretty good combo ..

My dad built our house in the oakland hills that he grew up playing in, so they advocated for that kind of play. (It was the late 70's-early 80's and there were also plenty of kids so we had a little group)...
But my mom was also pretty overprotective of me, she knew I was the "runt" of the kid group and my sister was not big on protecting me (she was the bully much of the time) so she'd hear me having trouble with them in the driveway and would conviently call me upstairs to "help" her bake cookies or something to get me out of the struggle...
She also insisted on driving us to school, no bus. and often was one of the 'parent drivers' on field trips.

But gosh! Do I have memories of roller skating in the neighbor's long driveway with one of the neighbor girls for HOURS. we'd meet at the tree af6ter Saturday morning cartoons and chores, and spend the day riding bikes, making rope swings, etc

In 1977, my Dad bought 40 acres in the redwoods, and we spent a lot of weekends up there - After breakfast, I'd pack a lunch and go into the woods and spend hours by myself sitting in the trees, singing to the animals like snow white.

God I had a really great childhood! Thanks, Mom & Dad