I think it is society that has changed. When I was a kid I would go through my neighbour's back porch and knock on the kitchen door. "Can Connie come out to play?" Or I would be sitting on my swing in my backyard and Connie and Dow would see me from their yard and come over.
My son would watch for a few boys to gather on the dead-end street for the all-season road-hockey game - he would grab his stick and go join them.
Or jump on his bike and cruise the neighbourhood looking for something going on.
But not my grandkids. Their mother (or father - now that they are separated and he does some parenting) makes the arrangements.
But when I was a kid, my mother would also be hanging her laundry on the line in her backyard on a Monday morning - her neighbour would also be hanging out laundry and they would talk over the picket fence. She would walk over to my cousin's place for a cup of tea - or stop in somewhere on her way to the village store. Nobody phoned and made arrangements - we didn't have phones back in the dark ages when I grew up. We just dropped in - cup of tea - game of cards - visit. Bring along your knitting. Gather for quilting.
Once upon a time you could walk through the village and see people, sitting on their front steps, mowing the lawn, walking to the post office (a favourite gathering place). Kids playing hop-scotch. Kids riding bikes.
Seelerman and I went for a drive a couple of days ago - through a new housing development, out into the countryside, back through a corner of the city. In all we saw two people in one yard, another person in a different yard. And people in cars.
If we are going to live behind doors, and drive from one place to another, arranging play-dates either for kids or adults is about the only way to connect.
I miss the old days.
