An article about backyards brought back memories of what backyards used to me. There was little there except lots of trees for shade with limbs to climb and gardens to swipe fresh food, old sheds that became club houses and theatres, ashpiles that grew strange and wonderous things and having no lawnmower yards were not well groomed but it seems they were enjoyed more often than the well manicured backyards of today with all the expensive furniture, sophisticated cooking equipment and enormous pools. - who has time anymore? As small kids we were sent outside to the backyard for most of the day both summer and winter and our imaginations took us on great adventures. When I go back home and look at our old homestead I do not see the hidious "purple" paint and sorry run down conditions - I just close my eyes and I see a well kept two story brown painted house with a swinging gate out front and picket fence around a spacious yard. A front step where many fun times were spent as a family and with neighbours and friends, a white flagpole built by my dad on which he raised the Union Jack on Dominion Day and other special occasions and took great pride in this tradition. I can see the see the garage out back with the cherry trees along the side of the yard and my grandmother's herb garden and lillies that bloomed every summer in spite of the fact she was no longer around to tend to them. The backyard was the place I learned to skate before I was allowed to tackle the town rink and to ride a man size bike by climbing on it off the back step barely reaching the pedals to propell myself to the garage where the impact of the door would stop me and back again I would go until I could prove to my parents that I would not kill myself out on the street. Later on around the age of 7 or 8 the whole town became our backyard and we enjoyed a freedom that unfortunately young folks today could not even imagine. I can recall the sound of the ocean beating on the rocks, the smell of the salty ocean breeze and the sounds of the sea gulls and the fog horns. I can picture the fishing boats coming into the harbour at sunset with the put-put-put of their engines and the fresh caught fish we brought home for dinner - life was so simple and we had little more than a good imagination and freedom to explore and create memories which last a lifetime.