I was talking with a friend about her children's lack of things to do this summer. It got me to thinking about my own youth, growing up on the North Side back in the 1960s. What did I enjoy doing in the summer?

I often marvel at how many more options today's generation has. I say to myself, "If only all of this -- organized sports, computers, video games, cell phones -- was available when I was growing up!" Then I think again.

These were just a few of our summertime diversions:

• Fishing. In a city noted for its rivers, fishing was a given. No elaborate tackle, however.

We all did have rods, mostly our fathers' old ones, or their new ones until they found out. Hooks were pretty cheap at the local Sears. Bait was usually a hunk of Velveeta cheese or night crawlers that we gathered the night before. Occasionally, one of us would prepare a special bait: cornmeal dough flavored with vanilla extract. The fish loved it.

The fishing was pretty good -- always a good fight. Of course, no one ever had any intentions of eating the carp or catfish we pulled out of that river. Seeing some of those fish made me wonder why we actually did the following:

• Swimming. There were plenty of city and county pools available for a nice, cool swim on those hot summer days. But for some reason, we always ended up in the river.

Maybe it was because we didn't have to deal with the lifeguards, the older guys or all the moms with their kids, and we certainly didn't have to worry about swim trunks. Yes, down to the underwear and into the water.

It wasn't always the cleanest, but for a quick cool down, you couldn't beat it. We never really wandered too far offshore; in fact, very seldom did the water level go higher than your waist. It was usually a mystery as to what was bumping against your leg, so just enough body in the water to bring the temperature down was enough.

• Lunch, a show and dessert for a dime. Hard to believe, but we actually did this. Here's how it worked:

At the local corner grocery store (before supermarkets and megastores), you could buy an 8-ounce bottle of pop for 8 cents. This included a 2-cent deposit. So with a dime, we would get a bottle of pop (root beer was my favorite) and two pretzel sticks, a penny each.

Outside the store, we'd sit on the steps, enjoying the summer sun and our lunch. The constant stream of cars on East Street would provide the entertainment. We'd try to guess what year the cars were, or what color the next car around the bend would be. No one actually knew if we were correct on the year or not, but it did lead to some great debates.

Sometimes we would just enjoy the scenery (if you know what I mean).

After the pretzel sticks were consumed and the pop was gone, it was back into the store to claim the 2-cent deposit on the bottle. Usually, it was two pieces of Dubble Bubble, but there was always the whole case of penny candy from which to choose.

• Harmonizing. We thought we could sing. We even gave our group a name: "The Sidewalkers." That's where we sang.

There were no official members; whoever was there and felt like singing was part of the group. Usually, we sang along to songs coming from the transistor radio, unless nobody brought one, and then it was pure a cappella. Sometimes a stray cat would join in, unless that was just constructive criticism. The neighbors never complained so we must not have been too bad or too loud.

The pole light provided the spotlight. Sometimes we would go on for hours. Karaoke had not been invented yet, so often we had trouble with the lyrics, but after a few times with the same song, we would come to consensus on the words.

• Work. There was always an opportunity to earn some cash. You could actually get a scheduled, everyday job. If you recall, the daily newspapers were delivered by a paperboy (or -girl) back then.

Some of the other jobs included cutting grass at the cemetery, salting hides at the local meatpacking plant, washing cars at the used car lot or just running errands for people in the neighborhood.

It wasn't much. But then, you didn't really need much.