My dad worked a lot when I was a kid so I didn't have very much time with him on weekdays. When the weekend came we could do things together. In the Spring, it didn't matter that some of those things were yard work, repairs that needed done outside or a car that needed worked on because I was spending time with my dad. Many weekends, after the work was done, we would go to Knoebels Grove, a small family run amusement park. We would eat hand-dipped ice cream cones and then ride the Pioneer Train, Grand Carousel, Merry Mixer and the Whip. Afterward, we would go to my grandparents farm for supper. I'd climb trees, walk in the woods or up the dirt road, pick forsythia and lilacs, anything a kid let loose in the countryside could find to do. When it started to get dark we would sit outside on old metal chairs, listen to the crickets and talk about things that were happening in our lives. My dad and grandparents are gone now and the farm was sold. The amusement park is still there, just a little bigger, and I go there with my family when we can. The world moves so much faster now and those simpler things don't seem to matter to a lot of people but to me they will always be my fondest memories.
