Our gang did.
Pretty much the entire neighborhood did or at least tried. I think we actually might have seen an old circus movie or some character on the Ed Sullivan Show walking with them. Anyway, something caught our attention and dropped the idea in our brains. We found a pile of skinny, 8 ft. pieces of lumber and nailed smaller scraps to them for our foot rests, depending how high off the ground we wanted to be. Then 7-8 of us went traipsing through the neighborhood. Stilt-walking is all about balance. If you can ride a bike, you can 'do' stilts. A bit of practice, some falling, a little blood-letting, and we were ready to attack the neighborhood sidewalks. I must admit, we caught the eye of even the adults that we used to drive crazy with our antics. I think I remember a few smiles too coming across even the stodgiest of faces. Seeing a bunch of crazy 12 year-olds moving around, our heads about 7 feet off the ground, could create that sort of reaction. Even some of the 'little kids' of the neighborhood got on to the bandwagon and attempted to construct them. Of course the newness of walking like that wore off after a couple of weeks, and we were on to other adventures. After all, we had probably hit the doldrums of the early dog days of August and these pre-teens boys needed something else to entertain them and fast. The specter of having girlfriends had hardly reached our horizon. Boy, were we so not ready for that eye-opening experience.
Let's see running around on stilts or getting a girlfriend?
Which one would we pick?
That was an easy call.
By the way, no, we didn't wear pants like this guy.
But we were UP there!
I think the pants might have made your scene complete :)
ReplyDeleteLife, in all areas, is about balance.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to be able to do that...
ReplyDeletemy brothers made a pair of stilts. i remember them walking around the farm yard, just being goofy. :)
ReplyDeleteI had a period like the one you describe. I was crap at stilts.
ReplyDeleteYou sometimes see buskers here doing that. I remember a resort owned by friends of my parents- there were a pair of customized stilts around the property when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteIf you could do this, you were really good. I had a pair, but wasn't very good at it.
ReplyDeleteYes, we did the stilts...I think my Dad made mine. I remember Martin Steingesser doing the stilts in the 80's and Shoestring Theater. Perhaps the guy up there is the next generation? I miss the old Maine Festivals, remember the year it was in Deering Oaks?
ReplyDeleteI can remember doing that but the stilts were only about 4" above the ground! ;-))
ReplyDeleteNoooooo way.
ReplyDeleteAt ages 10-13, I did try stilts. I made my own. It was fun for awhile. Haven't seen them in years!
ReplyDeleteI can say, with all honesty, I've never been through a stilt phase.
ReplyDeleteI apologize, BM. I intended to write a lot more in my previous comment. In fact, I did write a lot more. Then I read my words back to myself. I deleted them. They sounded so stilted!
ReplyDeleteI'll admit it: after a few unsuccessful bounces on a pogo stick stilts fell by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great memory. No gang stilt walking for us but we did roller skate in packs. We made the sound of rolling thunder...
ReplyDeleteI started to answer, No, of course I never did stilts, then I remembered. Maybe when I was about eight. I think my father made them for me from 2x4s.
ReplyDeleteI am often amazed that you seem to have perfect recall about your youth. All I can remember is that I was a kid and then I was at college.
I don't have the balance for that.
ReplyDeleteLots of kids in the hood did stilts. My balance was never there.
ReplyDeleteI don't ever remember a stilt phase when I grew up. We did other silly things, like tying a string around legs of bumble bees and holding on to the string while the bees flew around!
ReplyDeleteHaha! No we didn't wear pants like that either Birdman, and the stilts weren't that high but we thought we were fantastic if we mastered it!
ReplyDelete