{"id":12455,"date":"2022-11-02T17:40:09","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T16:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12455"},"modified":"2022-11-02T17:41:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T16:41:55","slug":"childhood-memories-a-poem-by-zena-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12455","title":{"rendered":"Childhood Memories &#8211; A Poem by Zena Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"5\" \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 18pt; color: #008000;\"><strong>CHILDHOOD MEMORIES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">What freedom we had when I was a child<br \/>\nCompared to nowadays.<br \/>\nWe were allowed to roam about at will,<br \/>\nAnd even ride our bikes on the roads.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">When we were little and days were sunny<br \/>\nOur Mother and her friend would meet<br \/>\nTheir purses were empty and they had no money<br \/>\nBut loved taking us out for a treat.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">We would visit the Drope half a mile away<br \/>\nWhere we could all picnic and play.<br \/>\nMother made sandwiches and took some pop<br \/>\nAnd we would all have a lovely day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">The field was quite large with a river close by,<br \/>\nAnd a railway viaduct<br \/>\nWe would wave to the trains as they went by,<br \/>\nAnd the drivers and guards would wave back.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">We played rounders and shouted until we were hoarse,<br \/>\nAnd even the Mothers joined in.<br \/>\nTogether with others that happened to be there,<br \/>\nEnjoying the afternoon sun.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">We would swim in the river to cool ourselves off<br \/>\nThe water was clean in those days.<br \/>\nWe would dive from the bank and cross on the log<br \/>\nAnd from the bank pick the daisies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">A tributary stream into the river dull flow,<br \/>\nWith water as clear as a bell.<br \/>\nWhen we were thirsty we just cupped our hands<br \/>\nAnd drank as if from a well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">As the evening approached and the sun went down,<br \/>\nWe would wend our way home to our Dad.<br \/>\nThe lane seemd so long as we daudled along,<br \/>\nWith Mother carrying all the bags.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\">Zena Ball<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr noshade=\"noshade\" size=\"5\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHILDHOOD MEMORIES What freedom we had when I was a child Compared to nowadays. We were allowed to roam about at will, And even ride our bikes on the roads. When we were little and days were sunny Our Mother and her friend would meet Their purses were empty and they had no money But loved taking us out for [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3eT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12358,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12358","url_meta":{"origin":12455,"position":0},"title":"August 2022  Book Choice","author":"Alan Williams","date":"12th October 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cDon\u2019t Let\u2019s Go To The Dogs Tonight \"- An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller Alexandra Fuller gives an insight into growing up within a dysfunctional family in Rhodesia\/Zimbabwe at the time of the bush wars. 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He was born of a black mother\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Off The Shelf&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Off The Shelf","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=347"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11924,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11924","url_meta":{"origin":12455,"position":2},"title":"Let\u2019s Not Go To The Dogs Tonight","author":"Alan Williams","date":"8th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"OFF THE SHELF Let\u2019s not go to the dogs tonight. by Alexandra Fuller. Alexandra Fuller writes her memoirs of her life as a child in Rhodesia with her somewhat dysfunctional family. It is an amazing childhood, and she clearly evokes that life for the reader. 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The main character was a travel writer who somehow became embroiled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;New Items for November 2025&quot;","block_context":{"text":"New Items for November 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=427"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12455"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12455"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12458,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12455\/revisions\/12458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}