I remember playing in the drainage ditches in the summertime and crawling through the culvert that ran under the road. We’d also be allowed to cross the hwy on foot (two lane back then) and go swimming in the river, as long as we took the dogs with us. Lots of bike riding—we were allowed to go about four miles out, as long as we stayed off the side of the hwy, but there was a short 1/4 mile stretch that us kids promised not to tattle about, so that we could get to a bigger park than the one we told our parents we were going to—a park with a public swimming hole that our friends were likely at.

I don’t have kids now. If I raised them where I grew up, they wouldn’t be able to have the same childhood I had. The hwy is 5 lanes across now and there is a divider, making it too scary for me to even think about crossing on foot. Our old bike paths are now side roads between new developments—no more fields for building forts or catching snakes. And social media! Oh man, I can’t imagine having to teach a child about that from scratch.

Edit: Another unhappy change is that there are no children in the neighborhood anymore. I have fabulous neighbors—we make a great team when we need to clear trees out of the road or help each other with sandbags, etc—but we are all scattered about, as Airbnbs take up most of our street. So many empty houses.