Going through my morning blogs and news rolls and get to the Once Upon a Win website with this entry about dangerous playgrounds.

Ah yes, real playgrounds, from our youth.

You see, when we went up for the funeral, as I mentioned, the town was so small they didn’t even have a stop sign on the main drag. But there at the community center was a playground. A joyous playground that I’m sure would make some of the neaüveux parents of today just shit their pants with fear. 🙂

See-saws… and without handles too!

A big metal slide.

Various swing sets, with various sorts of seats from repairs over the years…. all guaranteed to burn the back of your thighs.

A tractor. Yes. A tractor. Just a big farming tractor, obviously disabled, but just mounted there for the kids to play on. Reminds me of when I was in 2nd grade, the school I went to had a giant gutted fire truck on the playground. I’m sure the “safety pencil and a circle of paper” folks of today would be calling their lawyers. But oh how joyous it was.

A hill with pipes. Just a big 4-way intersection drain pipe that was above ground, but then dirt piled over it. Talk about a great place to make a fort or other things that can just spur a child’s imagination.

A couple “merry-go-round” sorts of things.

Blacktop with basketball hoops.

Monkey bars.

All sorts of things. All made out of metal. No plastic. No rubberized or mulched areas to protect the precious snowflakes from falling and risking a skinned knee. It was just a glorious playground to behold, where kids can be kids, they can use their imaginations, and if they happen to get hurt they learn how to shake it off and keep playing.

It’s good to know that somewhere in America there’s still a place where kids can be kids and learn things that will be useful to them as they become adults, and not further the wussification of America.