Comments on: Not much to report

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:20:42 +0000

At my elementary school (which was built in 1909), we had an even older and more dangerous merry-go-round, one that had a steel or cast-iron post coming from the ground up through the center of the merry-go-round that was stationary, and everything spun on a bearing or whatever on that post (now that stuff is all hidden below, for good reason).

Anyway, when I was 5, just a few months into kindergarten, I was on it as it was overloaded with a TON of other kids, and I ended up getting pushed into the center, and the cuff of my jeans somehow got snagged on the post — right in the rapidly spinning mechanism on the center post.

While my leg stayed in one place, my foot ended up twisting all the way around until it was facing forward again, and then some — over 360 degrees. It broke my lower leg in 3 different places via spiral fracture(s). I was in a cast from my toes to my hip for over 6 weeks.

Of course this was 1985, so my parents didn’t consider a lawsuit. Heck, the school was in a very small rural town that was 20 miles from the nearest hospital, so instead of waiting on an ambulance to drive all way to us, the principal (a tough old football coach) drove to the hospital with me on a cot in the back of the school’s cargo van with a homemage splint on my leg and the school secretary at my side. How times have changed, huh?

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:39:04 +0000

I don’t have a brother…I loved these too when I was a kid. My friends and I would play at the public park in NOTL and one girl fell off and was crying REALLY loudly and an actor from Shaw Festival told her to buck up, that it wasn’t that big a wound!

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:37:12 +0000

Merry-go-rounds!! My brother fell off one once and somehow his leg got caught underneath. It took off all the skin.. didn’t stop us playing on them though.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:05:37 +0000

A year and a half? Maybe more…

By: Dirty Robot

Dirty Robot — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:00:13 +0000

nice beard for real,… how long has that taken you to grow, is there an end in site or goal for it ha?

By: DON

DON — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:09:15 +0000

I don’t really remember anything like this from my childhood at all – or at least, I associate things like slides and climbing frames with school playgrounds. We moved around all the time when I was little and I have only hazy isolated memories of anywhere much until I was about 11. I don’t recollect ever being taken to park playgrounds and I’m not sure we lived anywhere where there was one, though I suppose we probably must have done. I certainly don’t have any photos of it if we did.

By: jinn

jinn — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:26:55 +0000

Being 37, now when I see playgrounds I wonder how kids can have any fun on them at all. We had merry-go-rounds, the huge high slides WLFDRGN mentioned, very high swingsets, and teeter-totters. And, the whole place was covered in sand, not the weird rubber stuff they have now. I can’t even count how many times I fell off the merry-go-round, once was so bad I got the wind completely knocked out of me. Still got back on though.

By: wlfdrgn

wlfdrgn — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:56:07 +0000

I hadn’t noticed the vanishing carousels/merry-go-rounds. What I’d really seen is the total lack of real slides from playground. When I was a kid, a 20′ tall slide was pretty normal, made of nice, thin, shiny, frying pan hot steel. Now, the big slides are maybe 5′ high and plastic.

We’re doing everything possible to ensure that kids don’t get exposed to any danger at all thanks to lawyers. Is it any surprise that they grow up and don’t have any understanding that they can be hurt, leading to law suits because coffee was hot?

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:36:37 +0000

I have a pretty substantial scar on my knee from one of those carousels…from when I was 19! But I still think they are great fun :D

By: scienkoptic

scienkoptic — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:19:19 +0000

Here’s one reason you might see and end to the carousel:

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=47d01bfadd

By: Kimmo

Kimmo — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:22:31 +0000

I’m getting ill just by looking at a carousel. They were fun when I was a kid but now even the idea of riding one makes me nauseous. But you are right about one thing, playgrounds aint what they used to be.

By: choice

choice — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:56:51 +0000

(re) squirrel nests.

i had to look this up myself because i’ve seen these everywhere, and discovered this photo ( https://api.ning.com/files/kuZCUtmqsWCmZG57-fVzNT8QK0wyI-9LvUUaZ*I-oO4GrAqSjeP4A2y3JJOWi57*0VDKW9KlNMbzzAMNrYhp68S*21VxQklO/porcupine.JPG ) of a porcupine in a tree that looks like a nest. awesome.

By: TheWomanMonster

TheWomanMonster — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:51:11 +0000

I’m so glad I’m not the only one with a people of walmart addiction. Morbid really.

Love the Merry-Go-Round.
Would love to play on one with my camera! We don’t have them around here anymore. *pout*

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:12:17 +0000

I hadn’t yet… So thanks for making it easy with a link! That’s great that you can get molds for a couple dollars. I’m totally going to get some.

By: Rosie

Rosie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:43:27 +0000

https://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=chocolate+chess+pieces&aq=1&oq=chocolate+chess+pie&aqi=g8

but you would have googled it already, surely!