There's Nothing To Do, by Richard Carpenter for Nevada Daily Mail 3/28/2020; The Brittingham Kids of 1950 & 60's.

My Mom was the "stay at home" Mom of the Neighborhood. My Dad was a Police Officer protecting the town. Us kids & friends did as Richard said in his article...memories!

There was everything to do-Growing Up Brittingham

The lament in the title of this week's column, is a phrase that has been oft repeated when discussing local activities for kids.  As with any tenet, principle, doctrine, or dogma, there is an abundance of evidence that this statement has some validity.  This lacking has been magnified in 2020.  Our youth will be facing one of the longest and most disorganized summers in history.

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I have repeated in several of my columns over the past couple of decades the phrase that my parents and grandparents voiced to me on numerous occasions.... "I'm busy, go out and play!"  I can assure you we didn't have to be encouraged to get out of our homes and meet up with our friends.  Those summers of six decades ago fill my memories with a variety of pastimes and many unscripted activities we so enjoyed. 

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What makes today's pandemic affected world so different is that our kids cannot experience even a fraction of those types of daily games of play.  The list of what they cannot do is perhaps best described by listing my own youthful endeavors that will no be likely be missing this summer.  

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Sleepovers were a common practice for my generation.  Homes were smaller and had fewer bedrooms.  It was not at all uncommon for us to stay at a friends home, and sleep several together in a bed.  No way that can happen in 2020.  

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Swimming was a cherished exercise for kids in my time.  Here in the Nevada of my youth, we had the legendary Radio Springs swimming pool to enjoy.  There were also other natural swimming holes for us to enjoy.  The strip pits offered several locations around the county.  I am uncertain if today's youth have ever been swimming at the pits, or experienced a rope swing high over the water.    

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Sadly, most of the municipal pools in our area are not going to be open this year owing to the virus threat.  That action alone will deprive millions of kids and families of a familiar summer pleasure.  

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In my youth many of the local churches and scouting groups offered summer camps.  The one I attended had a couple of hundred boys crammed into a non air conditioned wood dorm affair.  We were in constant contact with the other boys, and never gave a thought to spreading diseases to each other.  I doubt there will be many summer camps this summer.  

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In the that long ago era I am describing, there were numerous mothers in every neighborhood who did not work out of the home.  Even when we were outside playing, there was always some supervision from these observant women who were referred to as "housewives."  

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In today's world most households have both parents working, and there are many single parent homes.  Unlike the neighborhoods of my youth, there are now vast areas of homes with no adults present during the workday.  That would make it impossible for them to have the free run to play as we did.  Instead they will have to be in supervised situations, and with the social distancing practices they won't often enjoy close interaction with their friends.  

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The Nevada of my youth had a free movie on Tuesdays at the Fox Theater.  I am not sure how many kids were packed together for a movie back then, but every seat was filled to capacity.  We were literally crammed on top of each other, but we didn't care because we were there with our friends.  

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I and a few of my buddies regularly camped out together.  We did our camping mostly in places like the backyards of our homes.  We didn't have any tents so we could only camp on nights when there was no rain.  I can still remember laying side by side with my friends as we gazed at the night sky.  One of our favorite practices was to watch for the blinking lights of airplanes in the night.  We also scanned the night sky for signs of satellites, but I am not sure if we ever actually saw any.  

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Playing baseball was definitely the national pastime in my youth.  We didn't practice any social distancing on the ballfields.  My day often began when I met the other kids at Cox's Market on South Main.  We would buy some packages of bubble gum that also contained a baseball card.  We would sit on the front porch of the store to see who got a new card.  Often some card trading followed as we endeavored to fill our collections.  

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We played baseball practically everyday in some format.  Besides swimming and movies, there were other neighborhood games that kept us in close proximity with each other.  One of my personal favorites was what we called a "chalk chase."  We divided into 2 teams.  The first team took off shortly after dark and rambled all over town.  They left arrow signals in chalk on sidewalks, utility poles, and a variety of locations, so that the 2nd team could follow.  The goal was to try and catch up with the other team.  Most nights we just enjoyed the camaraderie.  Nothing was more fun than being with our friends in the summertime. 

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I am truly saddened to think of all these kids of today, who will have to spend their summer in some form of isolation.  There will be no swimming because the pool is closed.  Many of the normal youth programs have been canceled.  A generation that already spent far too much time playing video games will likely find that to be one of the only ways to connect with their friends.  

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Let hope this calamity is soon behind us, and once more our kids will be able to be kids again.  It can't happen too soon for our society.  When we are back to some type of normal, kids won't say "there's nothing to do!"