You know, Saturdays really were sacred as a kid. The way that cereal tasted better when paired with Saturday morning cartoons, or how the day stretched so long when you had nothing you had to do.
It’s funny how the definition of “perfect” changes over time, right? Now, a peaceful Saturday might mean no obligations, a warm drink, and that rare feeling that your brain is quiet enough to think or write.
I wonder if any Generation Jones folks secretly miss the scratchy sound of a record player or that click when you pushed “play” on a cassette deck. And honestly, the sheer thrill of not knowing what was coming on next on TV. It’s like living without spoilers, all the time. 😄
Remember when….. Saturday mornings were filled with promise. We didn’t want to sleep in or wake late; we had things to do and places to go. We had a quick breakfast and sometimes grabbed a snack to go, and then we were off. First to the tv to grab Saturday morning cartoons. You remember the lineup: Bugs Bunny, Jetsons, Flintstones, and so many more. We gobbled those up like no tomorrow because in those days, those few hours of cartoons had to do us the whole week. We didn’t have videos or cell phones to play them anytime we wanted. We had to get while the gettin’ was good.
Once we were fed and animatedly entertained thanks to Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera, we got into our non-school clothes and took off for the great outdoors. Bikes went with us. We didn’t have water bottles. Ours and friends’’ hoses were our water source, no matter what the temperature.
We stayed out until the street lights came on, never really revealing our full day to the adults. We weren’t tracked and didn’t have a GPS in our pockets, so we had secrets. Secret club meetings, olympics, dares, and fun.
These days, instead of scraped knees on a Saturday, I’m more likely to have stiff creaking knees. Saturdays are still a day I love to do things I love, but I sometimes sleep in longer than I should, and usually it’s emails or reels I’m watching with my “nutritional” breakfast (ie, coffee)
Lots has changed in the past fifty years, but those are the fodder for a different article.
for the audio edition – https://youtu.be/P5-YuoX9vCo
© 2025 – jj thompson
LIFE on the HALF SHELL 