Reading about Saturday’s cinema under the stars event at the botanic garden in Mt Annan got me thinking about what other activities from yesteryear we have discarded over the years.
Open air theatres were a dime a dozen when I was growing up and it’s where many of us saw our first Hollywood film.
Indeed every reasonably sized suburb in Sydney had its own movie theatre.
This meant not only that we didn’t have to get the bus to the city but also that we could walk to the movies.
Maybe walking’s something else we don’t do too much of these days because just about everything is driving distance away.
Talking about driving, who remembers drive-ins, the places where you could take your girlfriend once you were old enough to drive – and dad would let you borrow the Holden or the Falcon.
It’s wonderful that we are living in a pretty exciting age, and personally I love the new technology, the social media and all that.
But I also wonder why we had to junk some of the wonderful things we had before, especially the ones that kept us a little healthier because we had to walk to them.
All my memories of childhood are of never ending games and activities with mates, and mostly outdoors.
From kicking a ball around to marbles, spinning tops and making and flying kites, it was an incredibly happy time.
I have vague memories of staring in wonderment at the first TV sets in the shops and we did eventually sit on the lounge and watch American comedies after school.
Now that I am older and look back I wish we adopted the new technology but also kept some of the fun things we already had.
Here’s my Top 5 of things I would have kept for ever if I had the power to do so:
Number 1. The corner shop in every street. There’s still one or two around but the place where we got our sweets as kids is just about completely gone.
Number 2. Local cinemas in every suburb. I reckon they would be a success if they brought them back.
Number 3. Playing outside. So many children now just sit inside and have their noses stuck in an ipad or iphone or whatever. If they only knew what they’re missing out on.
Number 4. Kites. Yep, kites. Half the fun was in making them, the different shapes and sizes.
Number 5. Riding bikes. Hardly any kid seems to have a bicycle these days of helicopter parenting, which is a shame.
