Other than a few dolls, growing up there wasn’t much by way of toys. But I didn’t feel deprived. “Go outside and play,” was our daily directive. We used our imaginations and made our own fun by stomping down tall hay in the hayfield to make “rooms” to play in, breaking open hay bales and then somersaulting down into them off the hay mow, pretending school and church and swinging by the hour looking for shapes in the clouds and dreaming of the fun we’d have if those big, fluffy piles of cotton would drop to earth so we could jump in them.

On rainy days, there were paper dolls — some store-bought, but then I traced around them to design my own movie-star clothes — my favorite, strapless sheath dresses with big flounces at the bottom. My idolized cousin had a very “in” short hairstyle, so I tried to cut my doll’s hair in the same style. The resulting plugs in back of her vinyl head were frighteningly unbecoming, and it was pretty much the end of dolls for me.

One summer in Kansas I learned to ride a bike; rather, I learned to pay attention to where I was going after slamming into the back of a parked truck! Later, when I got this bike it really wasn’t mine; I was expected to share it with my sisters and brothers. It didn’t take me long to have a nasty fall. Because of the resulting scar on my knee, I knew I’d never be perfect enough to become Miss America. You’d think I’d be relieved to have that pressure off me, but it was a huge disappointment.

On the farm, it was usually just us siblings. But when we moved to the city we got a neighborhood. We’re talking baby boomers here. Wasn’t hardly a house without kids in our age range. And for the most fun on earth the only equipment we needed was an old can. Kick the Can was the game of choice, especially in the fall when darkness came early. Kick the Can and the smell of burning leaves — more satisfying memories than a girl deserves to have.

You who are young, make the most of your youth. Relish your youthful vigor. Follow the impulses of your heart. If something looks good to you, pursue it. But know also that not just anything goes; you have to answer to God for every last bit of it. Ecclesiastes 11:9