While listening to Steve Wonder’s “Songs In Key Of Life” and cleaning up, thoughts of me growing up in North Philly began to swell. Specifically, I was thinking about how kids would be out playing at night. While many of us had to be in the house when the street lights came on, parents oftentimes allowed us to play in front of the house while they sat on the stoop either enjoying a smoke, beer, or catching up on the latest gossip with the next door neighbor. I can still hear the rapid pitter patter of double dutch jump rope while the night air swirled all around us. The boys would either be playing with our Matchbox cars as we pushed them down the incline between the stoop or catching lighting bugs while the occasional SEPTA bus would pass, adding a slight boost to the night breeze.

I miss the pre-Playstation/X-box/Gamecube/PC/200+ TV channels days.