Rec

Back in the day, we went to Recreation. Oak Park provided this service for the children, I guess, to keep them off the streets in the summer. It was great.

The one we went to was at our school, Key. Pimply teenagers were in charge. There was tether ball, arts and crafts and my favorite, box hockey. As I travel through life, I've never met anyone who knows what box hockey is. So in case you don't know, this is box hockey:

Some wood is nailed together and painted red or blue and the paint is chipped in all the right places. There are also potential slivers sticking out all over the place. You play it with one other person, so there are two thick wooden sticks, which are really like overgrown paddles, and a puck. You balance the puck on the center slat, then raise your sticks to within one millimeter of each other's faces and three times, slam your stick into your opponent's, hitting the ground in between slams, kind of like what barbarian-like people do when they are trying to prove who's in charge. Then it's the face off.

Each slat has a slot cut in it which meets the ground. The object of the game is to get the puck through the first slat, then out of the box on the other person's side. Then you win.

I realize that this probably makes no sense whatsoever to someone who's never played. But for those of you who have, you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?

Once, during the initial stick-clashing session, Stella Mathews hit my front tooth dead-on, knocking out my temporary crown. Stella, you owe me $12,000.

Believe it or not, the other great thing I remember about recreation is the - ready? - mobile swimming pool. Yes, you heard me. The MOBILE SWIMMING POOL.

It sloshed its way into the school parking lot and, dripping with box hockey sweat, we all flocked to it's promise of cool relief. This is probably my imagination, but I remember the water being somewhat murky, water of a quality I wouldn't let my own daughter near enough to even glimpse clearly. But still we climbed in and splashed and played and not one single one of us died from E. coli.

I am so up for a game of box hockey. Anyone?