My family moved to Watertown when I was in the 3rd grade. We moved in late September. Looking back, that gave me the school year to meet friends and get settled in. By the time my 3rd grade year of school came to an end, I had met plenty of partners in crime. (Not real crime, mischievous 9-year-old boy stuff.) 

My parents bought a house in the 800 block of East Kemp. The "block" is really 5 or 6 blocks all run together. There was only an alley in part of the block so there were plenty of spaces to hide. We climbed trees - not one single tree was safe in our neighborhood.  Except Mr. Porath's - he had the most meticulous kept home and yard. He was never mean to us boys, but he was firm.

I remember getting going early in the morning.  My mom wouldn't need to wake me - each day was a new adventure. We played ball, mostly football, some basketball. The house next to ours let us put up a backboard and hoop. We went through the skateboard phase, but that was fairly short lived. 

My mom had said that I was to stay in the area, and as I’ve said before, she was really the only parent around. The rest of the group was in agreement that we ought to ride bike to St. Ann's hill.  It would be great fun to skateboard down the hill.  Imagine how fast we could get going!  So one day after lunch, we headed out to the hill. It was a big journey, and against my mother's wishes. 

I remember looking down the hill when we arrived thinking “this is going to be a rush.”  We all got on our boards and started down. As young boys do, we were only focused on going fast. It never crossed our minds that we would need to stop. Well, the train tracks helped the boards stop, but we kept going. We were fortunate that there were no broken bones, just a few scuffs.  One of hundreds of great childhood memories.

We wore the back tire off our bikes each summer. Not that we rode that far, we just loved to "skid" the back tire. We built wooden go-carts that we took turns pushing each other in. 

One afternoon we built a go kart out of my father's metal cabinet that he kept his paint and stain in. We figured that if we took all of that stuff out of the cabinet, laid it on it’s back, tore the doors off and smashed the shelves out of it, that it would make a great go kart. It did! The trouble was that with two carts we could smash them into each other. The metal one did not fair well. To this day, I can remember the look on my father's face as he pulled into the driveway after a long day at work. 

As I reminisce, I think about my Savior. All of the wonderful memories that he has provided me. All of the NOT smart things that I have been a part of - He has seen me through it all.

Get outside and enjoy the season!  Make memories that will last a lifetime!  If you need clothing or footwear to keep you protected, keep Trav's Outfitter in mind.

Until Next time,
Blessings,
Travas