On 2018-03-21 1:04 PM, graham wrote:
> On 2018-03-21 9:26 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
>
>>
>> Parents also keep a tight leash on their kids these days. The kids get
>> bored. We had bicycles and backpacks, so we went off on long hikes or
>> bicycle rides.Â* We either came back for lunch or we packed a lunch,
>> and we had to be back for supper. Later on I had to be back for my
>> paper route. My neighour used to drive her kids to catch the school
>> but... at the end of their driveway, and she would drive down and wait
>> for the bus, even when they were in high school. Lucky them that they
>> did not have to walk that 125 yards.
>>
> Those days are long gone and ain't coming back. I was about 6 and my
> sister about 4 when we wandered about a mile out of the village to watch
> the village soccer team. We arrived home when it was almost dark, being
> November, and although my parents were surprised about where we had
> been, they weren't a bit worried.

I said something to my mother years later about our long leash and she
said she always knew where we were. Okay. If she wanted to believe
that. I don't think she had any idea how far we roamed.

When I was a teen I used to hitchhike a lot. In my first year of high
school my best friend moved about 40 miles north of Toronto and a few
months later we moved down to Niagara. I used to hitchhike up there and
and back a couple times a month, usually going up Friday night and
returning Sunday night. On the weekends in between another friend and I
spent a lot of time in Toronto. I would tell my parents I was going
downtown. I think they assumed I meant downtown St.Catharines. Nope, it
was downtown Toronto.