It was awesome, tbh. I know other people are talking about the problems like racism, but I was barely aware of it. I liked the POC I knew, I made up my mind to always be nice to people no matter what they look like. I tuned out TV news because it was so confusing and horrifying. I didn't want to think about war and race riots and Watergate so I ignored it.

The most awesome part was the freedom to roam. I actually think my parents were pretty ignorant to allow this, but it was awesome at the time. I was 9 years old in 1964 and I roamed all over the west hills of Portland and explored all the neighborhoods, sometimes with my brother and sometimes alone.

I was never exposed to porn or swear words. And nobody molested me. People didn't act that way around children back then. They did smoke around me, though. Not my parents, just some aunts and uncles, right in the house, every time they came over. I got used to it and didn't think too much about it. Anyway, I wasn't allowed to complain about things. My parents were strict conservatives and I got what I got.

TV shows started out lame and became increasingly awesome. Howdy Doody and Lone Ranger turned into Gilligan's Island and Bewitched. Some shows touched my heart for years, like Captain Kangaroo, and some shows stimulated my imagination, like Looney Tunes. Watching television evolve a universal experience. Everybody watched the same shows.

My education was great. I had great teachers and resources. The library was full of good books. I had age appropriate special classes like health, sex ed, Home ec, PE, music, Spanish language, etc. I had excellent math and science teachers.

Portland was clean and not crowded back then, and full of interesting old buildings. In the 70's I lived among the hippies in NW Portland. That was awesome too.