As we've already established, I was not athletic or coordinated--- AT ALL--- so you definitely won't see here that I enjoyed any type of sports. The closest I got to enjoying physical activities would be Tag, Duck Duck Goose or Statue. Even those weren't my first go-to activities because, well, they involved running and a certain amount of coordination is beneficial in running!
I did enjoy bike riding!!! I rode my bike ALL. THE. TIME! I remember Dad taking the training wheels off my small bike. When I was having trouble balancing the bike, he suggested I start with my bike by the back door of our house, just lift my feet off the ground and focus on just keeping my balance as the bike rolled down the small decline of the driveway. It sounds ridiculous, but as I got better at maintaining balance, one day without even thinking about it, I put my feet on the pedals and started RIDING!!! I was so excited that day I just rode around and around in circles on our driveway until I ran inside to tell Mom what I had done! Soon, my dad realized that little bike wasn't going to work anymore and he bought be a beautiful blue 26" bike. It seemed way too big, but Dad said he wasn't going to buy me a 24" that he'd just have to replace again in a few years. So, I learned to ride standing up first to be able to boost myself onto the seat. When we lived on the farm, my bike and the dogs were my favorite pastime. I'd ride down the country road with Copper, Buck and Lady close behind. When we moved back to Aurora, I got a new bike and a new friend to go bike riding with. Lanie and I rode EVERYWHERE after school or in the summer. We'd go downtown, to Phillips Park, to the tennis courts or, just around. Bike riding slowed down after I got my driver's license, but didn't actually stop 'til I went to college.
I played "house" a lot. Usually just in my bedroom where I had my dolls' cradle and bunk bed set up, but there was one summer on the farm when I used an empty section of the barn loft for my playhouse and moved my doll furniture, my little table and chairs and some blankets in. It was great, except there were no lights, so I could only play in there when good natural light was coming in the small window. I had several dolls: a hard plastic baby doll (about the size of an 8-month-old), a Chatty Cathy and Tandy, a 3-foot-tall doll who "walked" and "talked." My favorite doll, though, was one I rarely played with. She was my mother's baby doll with a china head and sawdust body. I didn't play with her much because her head was cracked and she had a hole in her cloth toe, so she leaked sawdust. I always wanted to take her to a doll hospital for repairs, but she got thrown away after my dad died and I was away at college. She was always the "good baby" that slept in her cradle (also my mom's).
I played outside in the snow quite a bit on the farm as well. I'd build myself a small snow fort or go "trekking" in the drifts by the barn. A snow fort wasn't terribly fun after I had it built, however. With no one to play with, it was protecting me from an imaginary enemy! Speaking of snow drifts, though... there was a boy at school who thought it was all kinds of funny to push the girls down in the piles on the playground. He only pushed me down once. The next time, I was ready for him and anticipated when he was coming for me from behind. Just before he laid his hands on me to push, I reached over my shoulder, grabbed him by the coat collar and threw HIM over my shoulder into the snow. Old David never bothered me again! That move may have been the origin of my elementary school nickname of "Super Zielke." Come to think of it, I don't remember him pushing any of my friends in the snow after that day either.
Playing with my Barbie dolls filled up hours of each day! I had quite a collection with my original blonde ponytail Barbie, my brunette "bubble cut" Barbie, the Barbie with the first bendable legs, eyes that closed and a painted head that allowed interchanging her three wigs for different looks. Barbie's family grew. I had a Ken (Barbie's boyfriend), Midge (Barbie's best friend), Alan (Midge's boyfriend), Skipper (Barbie's little sister), Skooter (Midge's little sister), Ricky (Alan's little brother), Francie (Barbie's cousin), Casey (Francie's friend), Tutti and Todd (Barbie's & Skipper's little twin brother and sister) and Christy (Tutti's friend). They all lived in a mansion I created by hooking together my Barbie Dream House with my Barbie Fashion Show store, but it was pretty hard to get them anywhere with her little 2-seater convertible!
I played games by myself. Hours of Monopoly alone helped me learn to count money and move around the board without counting spaces. Scrabble helped me learn to do crosswords and build my vocabulary and hours of Solitaire helped me learn to shuffle cards well. I enjoyed playing with Play-doh (Boy, would I have fun with all those Play-Doh sets available now!) and Silly Putty, pulling up pictures out of the Sunday comic strips.
But my last great love was reading. I still love to read. Bobbsey Twin novels were my absolute favorite. My first Bobbsey Twin book had been my mother's when she was young. I would get one or two every Christmas and Birthday and lots of them in between. Since I knew my mother had a twin brother who died when they were very small, I used to pretend Bert and Nan Bobbsey were my mom and her brother; always having grand adventures together. I also enjoyed reading biographies and read every one I could get my hands on. My poor mother was constantly being harassed to take me to the library again.
That about covers my "activities." Some may read this and think I was a pretty boring kid. Maybe I was. But with brothers so much older than me, I learned early on to entertain myself. I had no opportunity to be bored, because my imagination always took me to new places and experiences.There were no limits to the adventures I could have in my mind; and I was creative enough to be able to see my imaginary world in the real world that surrounded me.I feel sorry for kids who tell me they're bored. To me, that just means they've never learned how to use their imaginations and create their own fun.
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