Slippery Summer Fun
Today’s post comes to us from Krista.
I think I’ve mentioned growing up on Cannon Lake and spending most of my free time swimming. I loved swimming, loved everything about the lake.
I don’t know where Mom got the idea, but one hot summer day, she took a large watermelon and spread Vaseline all over it. Then she tossed it in the lake and told us we had to bring it in so that we could have it for a snack later.
We spent most of the afternoon trying to “catch” that thing. It slipped away with every touch. There is nothing on a watermelon to grab hold of, and a greased one in the lake is a slippery challenge! No one was injured in this game, and everyone was exhausted. I don’t remember who, but someone was finally able to get hold of it.
When we got out of the lake, we were slick with petroleum product and water. We all had to shower before supper.
What unique games did you play as a child? What fun challenges did you give your own kids?
Trail Baboon 
I’m getting a bit of Baader-Meinhof. Just this last week I finished Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, in which there was the incidence of a Vaseline-covered watermelon in a public swimming pool.
So I guess the watermelon idea wasn’t unique and neither were any of the things we did as kids.
What always struck me a curious was how traditional artifacts, like jump rope chants and Olly Olly Oxen Free somehow got transmitted along generations.
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Nice to have a hint of summer in the midst of all this sub-zero stuff, Krista. There is something better coming!
When we lived in the duplex in Storm Lake, IA, our best friends lived right across the tracks, and we were on a double lot with a large mulberry tree. We four kids made up our own games with that mulberry tree – you could bike down the sidewalk and around the tree in a special pattern… there were hide-and-seek games that involved the tree. There was a board fixed up in the tree so a couple of people could sit up there – it was our fort… Kids are just creative.
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Did you harvest or eat the mulberries?
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That watermelon/vaseline thing is news to me. Must’ve taken an entire jar of vaseline to cover the watermelon.
I recall my childhood fun as being pretty typical, game-wise. Although I did have an unusual basketball game and football game. The BB game was played on a cardboard court with 10 holes spaced evenly on the surface to represent two teams. Each hole had a spring loaded “shooter” that could launch the plastic BB toward the net. Maybe lots of kids had those back in the early 60s, but I went a step farther and set up my own NBA league with all the teams. I kept stats (mainly just who scored what points) and standings. Even I thought that was weird when I got older.
The football game was called Photo-Electric Football. It used a light box and play cards for offense and defense that each player chose for a particular play. The cards were both inserted into the light box, then slid back to reveal the offense and defense calls and somehow determine if the play gained or lost yards.
I also used to play Risk by myself and use all 6 colors of armies. Took the better part of the day for me to play with all those warring sides, but it was fun for me. Can you tell I was a bit of a loner back then? 🙂
Chris in Owatonna
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