Prompt #21 - Pastimes / Passions

I'm joining this invitation #21 because it took me back to my childhood, a time when the only technology we had was a TV, radio, a record player, and vinyl records. Reading what this invitation is about brought back memories of those times when my siblings and I would sit on the floor in a corner of the living room with paper, pencils, and, of course, a lot of enthusiasm for having fun.

We didn't have bikes, so we made up games whenever we had free time. The ones I remember are perhaps because they were truly memorable.

First, the game is called STOP. This game consisted of making squares or columns. Each column was labeled with a name, surname, city, animal, fruit, thing... we used the alphabet. It started with a letter, and we had to fill our squares with words that began with that letter. One of the rules was that we had to be resourceful to avoid repeating words, because if there was a word that was the same as the first one, it had to be eliminated and, of course, we'd get fewer points.

The winner got to choose the next letter. When we decided to stop playing, everyone kept score on their sheet to see how many points they had. Discussions arose about the words we spelled, like: "That's not a city," or "That's not a name." Today, I think this game was more of a way to learn the names of cities, fruits, and other things.

One activity we used to do outdoors was jumping rope. We could do it in the backyard or in the park if we were allowed. Jumping rope was an art, a test of endurance and balance, because we invented all sorts of ways to jump. Looking back, I say what a pure childhood it was.

Whoever stepped on the rope or got tangled up while jumping lost. Without even realizing it, we were developing our coordination—arms, legs, and rope movements. I remember we even sang songs while we jumped.

Sometimes the challenge was to jump three times at the same time with the same rope.

Hangman—I see that name today and wow, it was just a game, maybe it's demonized now. The game consisted of writing down a word, just the first and last letters. The person had to guess the letter and place it in each space. As the person guessed incorrectly, two trees were drawn, and ropes were drawn from each tree, then from each body part, until the rope reached their neck, if they couldn't guess the correct letter.

I remember playing this game; we used a chalkboard and chalk. We used dictionaries or books to find strange, long words and hang the person who guessed them. We also corrected spelling mistakes.

Then, as a teenager, I can say that my passion for reading was born. I still maintain this, although in recent months I have stopped reading for very personal reasons. I look back and there are many books I remember reading. The last ones I read with great discipline are the books of Dr. Joe Dispenza, which offer many teachings related to the brain.