I always had a bandaid on my knee!
I have many lovely memories of summer in Kauneonga Lake, Sullivan County, the Catskill Mountains. But I also have memories of injuries that came along with summer activities.
My grandparents’ bungalow colony was not large. We did not have a pool, because we were directly across the street from Kauneonga Lake. Who needed a pool? The dock and the lake were all we needed to spend hours of entertainment.
We had blueberry patches, where we would spend hours picking and eating blueberries. We also used the blueberry patches for games of hide and seek, as well as war games that the boys among us organized.
There was also a swing set, which also provided hours of fun. We would take turns swinging on the swings, seeing who could go higher; who could jump further from a swinging swing; who was the bravest.
At our colony, there were just three girls. The rest were boys. And of the boys, one was my brother and three were my cousins. And they would urge me on to disaster sometimes.
Another fact about swings in the late 1950s and early 1960s is that the seats were made of wood. Thick wood to hold the bodies of wilding swinging boys and girls. Today swings are made of thick fabric. So much smarter than wood.
Why am I so in favor of fabric swings? Because a wooden one almost killed me when I was about six years old.
It was a beautiful sunny day. We were all around the swing set, playing and spying on our neighbors, something we often did. Looking over a small mound of dirt into their yard.
My brother was swinging higher and higher and then jumping off the swing. I believe my cousins were doing this as well as the other boys. I decided I wanted to do it as well.
I started to swing. I remember my brother telling me to go faster and faster and to jump when the swing was as far forward as possible. I thought I was fine, but I did not quite make it.
I jumped. I fell to the ground. The swing passed over my head. I sat up. I heard yelling. And then nothing.
I woke up in my bungalow with my aunt and mom staring at me. I was sick to my stomach. My head was pounding. I now understand that I had a concussion. The swing had come back and hit me in the back of the head knocking me out. I had to stay in the bungalow for the rest of the day. Ice on the bump on the back of my head. My aunt, Mom and Grandmas checking in on me.
To be honest, I stopped swinging after that. I would get nauseous just looking a swing set.
I would like to say that was my only adverse summer adventure. But you know that is not true. I remember the summer my Dad taught me to ride a bicycle. For some reason every time I made a certain curve in the colony, where there was a little hill, I flew off my bicycle. I was determined. I would get passed that hill. My knees tell the story. There are many photos of me with skinned knees all thanks to the bicycle and the hill. But I did learn.
One injury was truly not my fault. The Dads pitched in together to build us all a club house. I remember sitting in it, when everyone ran out. I was about three. My understanding is that someone climbed on the top of the clubhouse…. I tend to think it was my brother as he was extremely active.
As the club house began to fall, everyone ran out, but me. I was once again hit in the head. But this time, I had a deep, open wound. Mom took me to the doctor, where I was given a tetanus vaccine and a butterfly on my scalp. I really wanted to see that butterfly, but never did. I still have a scar on my scalp and a tenderness. I hate when any one tries to touch my head without notice. It caused lots of aggravation as small child. Especially since my other brother loved to see me scream as he pretending to go to touch my head. Brothers and sister know how to push all the buttons!
I was not the only one to suffer from injuries during the summer. I think everyone had at least one emergency visit to the doctor each summer. But it was part of the fun and the excitement. The injuries became part of the summer stories, part of the memories that bound us together.
zicharonot 
We sure lived dangerously back then, didn’t we? No seatbelts or car seats, metal toys, wooden swings, asphalt playgrounds, etc. Somehow we survived!
The car seats and seat belts make sense. But life is more dangerous now with guns. And the advent of gun violence.
Yes, though I suppose there were always guns. One has to wonder what has changed that has led to more mass shootings. I think inner city gun violence and domestic violence have always been there, just not as well-publicized.
Inner city violence. Domestic violence probably. But not this insanity of mass shootings. I think the quality of guns and the outlook of the NRA changed.
Yes, the automatic weapons certainly were not always around and available like they are today. And the NRA has been politicized in a way that was not always the case.