Childhood Dreams

Or a Childhood bucket list

The premise of this tale is that it is never too late to try and realize your dreams. With that said …

There is nothing good about Covid and all that it caused. But it did give us the chance to show our inner resources. We have all struggled with how best to spend this time.

The idea for this Blog started back when there were only 15 Covid case in the whole country. You may have seen my blog Webbin’ ain’t easy. It was a steep learning curve starting with just the ideas and values that I shared with my childhood friend Mark. So, we started the blog, me in North Carolina and Mark firmly ensconced in Southern Michigan, and it certainly ate up volumes of this alone time. Alone together on the web is not as bad as it sounds, but maybe we should call it Me time. I even learned to type with my indoor voice. I ALSO LEARNED THAT TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS SHOUTING!

Every time I turn on the news it tests my belief that we have learned anything from our past mistakes. Life was simpler when I was a kid, Walter Cronkite would tell us the news of the world, closing with “And that’s the way it is.” No hype, no spin, definitely not fake news, he told us what was happening, and we could believe it.

Like I said, simpler. As I remember, and long for those happier times, I can’t help but think of all the grand ideas I had as a child. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was making a Bucket List.

Who remembers those best schemes that you started, but ran out of funds, or your parental units feared for your safety, or your accomplice moved away? Deeds undone!

I say it is time to revive that Bucket List. This links to all my childhood dreams, sort of. We are older now, some of us more than others, we are wiser now, again, some of us more than others, we became the responsible parental unit, and thankfully outgrew it. This is our time. Now we can let loose and make those dreams live, if not fully realized we can at least strive for better. For me, I was going to create a mini-golf layout in the back yard, nothing fancy, just long narrow boxes with staggered blocks or tubes to navigate to the hole.

I wanted to build a go cart, and even got so far as acquiring a lawnmower engine for power and had the plans for a wooden frame from Popular Mechanics, but I got stuck on the steering and brakes, but I did find a good seat from a swivel stool with chrome back rest. I’m sure that would have added some speed.

I always wanted to fly a remote-control airplane, and back in 1959 they were a bit pricey ready- made, so I decided to try building my own from balsa wood. I got plans that had pre-stamped wood parts and with my trusty X-Acto knife and some glue, tissue paper for wings, and dope to seal them, I was a builder. Just like the go cart I built the airframe, but I could only dream of buying the motor and all the control switches. So, on to the next big thing… Slot cars! This dream was so much easier to realize, because it all came in one box. Cars with electric motors, speed controllers, and the track.

I started asking or begging for this as my Christmas Gift. I didn’t want anything else, ever, I promise.

The only problem was that it was only September, leaving way too much plotting and prep time, and again that cursed holy bible for kid’s…Popular Mechanics magazine. They had an entire issue on just exactly how to build

your own slot car road course. All you need is a 4 x 8 Masonite board, a router, some magnetic tape, and a steady hand. Piece of cake in your imagination.

I spent hours drawing my super road track on graph paper borrowed from my uncles. The uncles were pretty cool but Wow! Graph paper! Now I could actually draw to scale. Well, I finally did get the race track set for Christmas, and I had fun racing around the figure eight layout, and I even set it up with the train set and then had to buy an overpass accessory for the train to go under. Problem is the early cars would jackknife on the curves if you went too fast, so now I’m trying to add banked corners which required a new magazine that was just for slot car racing.

The pictures showed a lot of fancy set ups from the west coast that really intimidated me. I did actually buy some magnetic tape to use with my still handy X-Acto knife, but without some Masonite, much less a router, no track was ever built.

You can probably see the transition coming, right? Every kid’s dream of driving a cool car, right?

Revell 1:25 scale plastic model cars. And a whole new set of magazines. Hot Rod, and any reference to Big Daddy Roth.

Again, with my trusty X-Acto blade, with the addition of a tube of putty body filler, and more dope only this time it was Testors paint.

I remember sitting on my friend’s front steps, patiently sanding on the latest model getting it ready to paint. Mine was a 1960 Ford Falcon that I painted a really ugly olive green. That must have been the only color I had a full jar of in the set. It was ugly, but it was a Ford color. I was still proud, but

soon dreaming of my next project.

A Baby Blue Hot Rod 2 door coupe kind of like this one.

As I outgrew my Schwinn Continental with all the kiddie chrome I switched to a slick Schwinn 10 speed, drop handle racing bike, and this took care of my need for speed.

Plus, I got pretty good at wheelies and even riding with no hands. If I should have added running with scissors and that would have been everything my mom said don’t do.

Because I lived in England from the time I was 2 to 5 years old I didn’t remember much very vividly, but I was fascinated by the London Tower bridge and the intimidating Tower of London itself. I always loved the Sherlock Holmes TV shows that showed glimpses of London

That was one bucket list wish I was able to follow up on, Mom and I went back to England in 1989 and she was amazed how much it had changed, I was simply amazed. Plan to go back again someday.

Because it once was part of the British Empire, I also liked the Taj Mahal and its back story. I don’t plan to visit in person, but maybe a virtual tour or a YouTube video.

Maybe I’ll build a ship in a bottle, how hard can that be?

A few of my other unrealized dreams are wanting a cool leather jacket, and one of my biggest regrets was giving away my signed Rocky Colavito baseball. They are now selling between $150 and $300 or more. So maybe I can be cool again?

Here are some indoor activities to help flesh out that childhood bucket list.

· Build a ship in a bottle

· Recreate a desktop version of that car you always dreamed of owning

· Get out your old train set and add a few cars or accessories

· Buy a slot car set just because.

· Order some old issues of Popular Mechanics from your childhood and share with your grandkids

· Finally build a balsa wood airplane and make it fly.

· Maybe go to your local go cart track and have a race with an old friend.

· Build a 3-d model of the Tower of London or maybe that dollhouse you always wanted.

· How about anything else you can dream up to explore.

I hope this got you thinking of your own unrealized dreams. Maybe you have everything you always wanted, so now you can make someone else’s dream come true. Maybe you forgot or gave up on your childish dreams, maybe you thought someday! Well, here it is, SOMEDAY! Don’t wait any longer, look around at some of the possibilities on this wish list. Covid won’t hold us hostage forever, but maybe it will have allowed us to look at the world as a kid again.

I’ve made it easy for you to follow your dreams, just click the Bucket List link

(It's in the works) and check out all the different categories. The more you search the more confusing it gets, so make it simple, you can stick a dream in your cart and save for later. No pressure, plus you will be notified if the price changes. After a few days you will be surprised which dream keeps popping up in your head until you give in and treat yourself.

We should all really take advantage of the opportunities right here on our laptops. And I will remind you that with free and easy returns you get a happiness guarantee.

And back to that Leather Jacket, or Penny loafers, Amazon has a store called Wardrobe that has select items you can order and have 5 days to keep or initiate a free return before they charge you. Try it on, make sure it fits, and love it or send it back. No harm, no foul. Speaking of foul, maybe I could even get my Rocky Colavito baseball again! Even if I have to sign it myself. Sorry Rocky, just kidding.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and will share with a friend.

Here is link to the podcast for this blog. Fun listening.

Click here to chase some of your own dreams