Opinions

Mail-in ballot applications for the March 1 primary are being rejected by almost 40% — largely because of a missing ID number, which is now required after a new voting bill passed the Legislature last year.

I was one of the lucky ones. I grew up in the country where there was woods to play in, tanks to fish in, and miles of road to bike on. If I wasn’t bikin’, I was walkin’. It didn’t matter what the weather, I was out and about with my day filled with adventures and misadventures. During the school year, Bernardo School had more recesses than I could count. Of course, that is how I remember it. Our playground was not for the faint of heart! One could climb as high as one could on the monkey bars. Or, swing as high as the sky - then jump out. These days, that would give teachers a heart attack. Our form of high jump was for a kid to hold a rope at each end. The rope would be held low to start, gradually getting higher while another kid sailed over it. Belly flops were common and so were sprained wrists. Summertime was meant to test the limits of one’s endurance. From morning to night, I would ride my bike to the neighbor kids and we would spend hours doing as much going as possible. We took cardboard flaps and put them on our bike near the spokes to make it sound like a motorcycle. High handlebars, banana seat, and a tall sissy bar. Fun days. You could always tell where everyone was by all the bikes laying in the yard.

The bells ring more or less all the time here.