So, I seem to still be stuck in reminiscing mode after my post yesterday. More memories flooded my mind as I laid in bed last night and I cried, because I just miss childhood so much. I know that sounds so silly and juvenile, but I do miss being carefree and having no worries.
One thing that my brother and I both loved to do on weekends was watch Reading Rainbow. We would do this while laying on our pull out sofa in the back bedroom of my Grandparent’s home, and sometimes, later in the afternoon my Granddaddy would take us down to the library to look for a book after. We came from a small town, and therefore a small library, so the library in San Francisco was very exciting to us. I loved books then, and I love books now.
My Grandparents had a lot to do with my love of reading. Our parents always encouraged education also, but those trips to the library with my Grandaddy, and my Nonnie always buying me books from the Nancy Drew collection really added to my thirst for new books. The great thing about the library Grandaddy took us to (Parkside branch) was that there was a park next door, so we often also got some outdoor play time after our library trip. The park had tennis courts, which we thought were cool even though we had no idea how what to do on them. 
Our favorite treat was Mountain Lake Park, a park in a different area of the city. It had a very large cement slide that my brother Justin and I adored. We, and all of the other kids, would come to the park with our pieces of cardboard to make us go faster, and toss some sand down the slide first. Also at the bottom of the park was a large lake with geese, that at times chased my brother around because he couldn’t seem to stay away. This is a memory I’ve been able to share with Jacob, and his Dad and I have taken him down to visit the geese.
There was a time that my Grandparents would take us to a lake in Golden Gate park to feed the ducks. We would load out of the bar with the bread Nonnie had saved for us, and rush off to feed them while she yelled behind us, “Don’t get to close to the edge!” We loved those trips to the pond, and also often came home with bags of tadpoles that were destined to die in the back yard because they couldn’t handle fresh, clean water.
What a childhood. It was the perfect mix of small town Southern living, accompanied by summers visiting with our Grandparents in California (until we moved here). San Francisco was such an exciting place to us then, so much to see, learn and do. I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything in the world.
Ransom Lee 