It was a nice sunny day today. My daughter wanted to play outside. She asked me what kind of things I did to play when I was around her age.
In my childhood days I seldom played inside the house. I liked to play outside. In our neighborhood there was a playground that was open for kids. It was not a fancy park; there was no slides, swings, or sandbox. It was just an open ground with overgrown weeds.
My friends and I gathered at the ground almost every day after school. We played baseball or dodgeball. I loved to run around on the grass field with my friends. When I tripped over, I loved the smell of the fresh green grass and the dirt.
Other things I used to do was to play with my older brother on the street in front of our house. Our parents bought us a Takeuma. It is a Japanese traditional toy for kids. It is made by a pair of bamboo poles. Each pole has a footrest. My brother and I were good at riding takeuma. We used to race running by takeuma very fast on the street.
Similar to takeuma, we also created our own toy; a Pokkuri. It is made by two empty cans. We made a hole in the can and passed a rope through the hole. We can ride on the cans with holding the ropes. When we walked with pokkuri, it made us taller. It also made a funny sound while walking.
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I had a nice synchronicity. I mentioned about my younger days’ toys to my daughter this morning. And in the afternoon, I received an email from my Japanese friend. She talked about the local private market she visited. She saw somebody was selling his handmade takeuma in the market.
I thought it interesting. When I was thinking about a takeuma, my friend saw a takeuma in the market. We both thought about our younger days together, even though we are physically in a very far distance away.
♬ Any feedback? (^^♪
three wisdom 