At my grand-mas. We'd go down to the creek, climb the rail road trestle that spanned it, and play on the box cars so often parked nearby.

We did a lot of things already mentioned.

We'd also build forts and have acorn wars. It usually all went to hell when someone got mad and started throwing rocks.

I would skip school and fish Duck creek in garland just east of shiloh rd between Buckingham and walnut st.

When we lived in Vermont the woods started at the end of our block. Would spend all day out there.
When we lived in Miami there was a fairly large mangrove next door. On the other side of the mangrove was a new subdivision being built. a group of us would grab lumber and nails in the evening after the crews left and then work on building the tree house during the day. It ended up with a solid floor, rough framed walls and sort of a roof. Spent a few nights out there.
After we moved back to Richardson the creek was a block away.

The raft story reminded me of another, we must of been in the 5th grade, it had rained for a few days and in our supply of lumber crates from Cooper furniture the 3 of us built our "ship" in a vacant lot. Used 2 bicycle wheels to drag it to one of the local creeks that ran through town. Anyone that knows Abilene, knows the creeks turn into raging rivers, Our ship held the 3 of us, our goal was Lake Fort Phantom, a long trip. For reasons unknown we did put on life jackets, and the race was on. Went under several bridges before our ship was a 100 pieces of wood and there were 3 of us moving at the speed of light down the creek. Holding together we finally caught on to some limbs and pulled ourselves out, near North 18, we had succeeded in floating 32 block down stream. We never tried that again using a homemade boat. But did it again the next rain using truck tire innertubes tied together.

Fishing for prairie dogs, setting starting fluid cans on their mounds and waiting until a group assembled the shooting can with go fast bullet. Taking two large bolts one nut and the striking tips from wooden matches screw one bolt 1/3 way into nut, place match tips into cavity, thread in other bolt tightly and throw forcefully onto hard surface. Many other foolish things.

Spent a lot of time on the RR track and in the marsh.
Kinda gross but we would take a piece of hollow grass stem and put it in a toads butt and blow them up like a balloon and set them in the water and watch them float around. lol
For Mother's day one year I went out real early and filled up a gallon milk carton with toads and gave it to my mom while she was still in bed. Didn't really have the effect I was looking for.

I never abused animals.

Bed sheets don't make good parachutes.

We'd go to the M.E. Moses and buy salt peter and sulfur to make exciting stink/smoke bombs. After school, Glen Terry and I would grab our fishing gear and bikes and ride down to Wynnewood lake and catch bass. Many times cars would honk as we rode back home with a stringer full of bass. We tried riding our unicycles down to the lake one time. Normally a ten minute ride turned into an hour ride, holding a rod, stringer. Didn't really think that one through. Too much fun being a kid back then. Mom just said come in at dark. We would be outside all day long in the summertime.

When i was 5-7 years old me and a few buddies would walk down the alleys after rains and catch toads out of all the water meters.

Every year me my dad, grandad, uncles and cousins would all tent camp on the llano river for about a week. We had flat bottom john boat with a trolling motor that we would run up and down checking drop lines. There was a huge rope swing tied off a big old pecan tree we would spend hours swinging on. Firefly's by the thousands at night!

Lots of night hunting when I got older with buddies. One of my best friends owns 5000+ acres near Brady where i grew up. We did some pretty stupid stuff but all had enough common sense to not get seriously hurt or killed..maybe got lucky also.

We also did something in Brady that I always thought was pretty different and a ton of fun.

We called it "underground railroad". Start at dark. You'd split into two teams. One team on foot would start at the China Elementary school which is located on the south end of town. The other team in vehicles had spotlights and would try and catch the team on foot before they reached the middle school located about 2 miles north. Parents would call the local PD to let them know what was going on. I knew that little town like the back of my hand, every alley way, nook and cranny. I knew just about every house and who lived there.

Think it's all been covered. Except we did not have grapevines so we puffed on Johnson grass doesn't take long till you got a hollow one and give that up.
Oh yeah we'd find two cedar trees growing up next to one another 2 guys climb to the top and straddle the top branch and start swaying back and forth bumping into one another till one of those branches gave. Don't know why I have back problems.

Like most I spent most of my time outside with a fishing pole or a gun. I knew the game warden which helped me stay out of trouble. His police car was the 1st vehicle I ever drove. He had an old white car like everyone else no big green truck. Larry Boyd. He was a good guy. "Jeromy does Otis know you're fishing back here?” no sir well come on before he calls me.

Took the front wheel off one bike hooked on the back of another then my buddy and I tried to jump a ditch with it,that didn't end well.Ran traps all thru school to have spending money.Ride pine saplings,little brother got a broken arm doing that.Got a old El Camino when I was 15 dropped a 400 small block in it put a set of headers on it drove it around the neighborhood at 2:00 am,hey we had just got finished putting it in you know we had to drive it to see what it sounded like!! Lights started coming on in every house.

Was that Elm Creek? Where did y’all start?

We made or own Chopper Bikes.

Catclaw creek, started out near S 14th near what is now an Avis Lube on S 14th.

I think as kids we covered every square inch of Duck creek from Beltline all the way to the water treatment plant. I probably trespassed on just about every rural/river bottom property in Sunnyvale to fish or explore the creek. Different times back then because no one cared - or - we just never got caught. Lots of good fishing along that creek!

Back when coke cans were real cans, we would take seven of them and make what some call a potato cannon. We never shot anything from them but just had fun with the blast, which I would equate to the sound of a 12-gauge shotgun. May have even been a little louder.

Not sure if these came before or after the propane cannons that are now commonly used to scare critters away from crops and airfields. Same principle of design.

Spent a lot of time with my grandparents during the summers. RR track behind my grandmas house we put coins on, we walked the tracks for a mile or so to a creek down the way, built forts in trees and shot all manor of critters with our pellet rifles. Cant tell you how many times the cops walked us back to my grandmas house, there was a city yard across the street from her house and we always shot pigeons out of the rafters of one of the buildings, it was a weekly deal. Grandma never cared what we did, grandpa passed and left a fully stocked garage and workshop wood nails you name it and we would build all kinds of stuff. One day we left two hammers laying out in the grass in front of our most recent tree fort and grandma hit them with her lawn mower... broke two hammers and the mower... we were in trouble for a while lol. I sat on her back deck with a ball peen hammer and must have eaten my body weight in pecans.

We went to that park over there one time with a family my step dad knew. Of course I shot straight to duck Creek. The young kid with the other family followed me he had brand new shoes I said take them off and let's put them in this hole here. Well rained and the creek came up and we never found that hole. My momma whooped me over the deal like it was my fault.

Pretty sure they were fine later....well, I never did stick around to see. lol

Dig nudie magazines and take cigarettes out of Grandpa's tackle box. My brother asked me if I remembered that when we were talking this morning. We would go buy my other grandfather a plug of cannonball chewing tobacco when were around 6 or 7. Crazy what they let us do back then.

Cool.