Growing up in a small town meant you knew just about everybody.

That could be both a curse and a blessing.

Because everybody knew who you were, the chances of getting away with anything were slim to none. If I had gotten into any kind of trouble, my mother usually new about it before I could even get home to explain.

The same was true about friends. Because you knew everybody, you were friends with pretty much the entire town.

Of course, the kids in your neighborhood or a block or two away were your closest friends. Then there were the friends you made at school. They could be an entirely different group of friends because they might live out in the country.

I always enjoyed visiting my friends in the country.

Besides the change of scenery, there were different things to do, such as check out whatever farm animals they might have. You might be able to help them out when they were bailing hay or when it was time to feed the pigs.

One of the best times I ever had was helping knock over the hay bales that stood up when they came out of the bailer instead of lying flat on the ground, so the machine behind it would scoop it up.

I remember pretending I was tackling opposing quarterbacks or running backs in the big game.

Once we had all the hay picked up in the field, it was time to store it in the loft.

I do not think there is a hotter place on Earth than a hay loft in the middle of summer. But helping put the hay bales away was fun, and it usually led to getting a nice treat when the work was done.

Of course, being in the country also gave you more things to get into trouble for.

I can remember spending time with some of my friends who owned long horned cattle. Those things used to fascinate me. It was like I was back in the old west, but getting into the corral and chasing them around might seem like fun until they decided to turn the tables, and start chasing you.

I can remember almost not making it over the fence before feeling one of those horns in my backside.

Your neighborhood friends were probably your closest and best friends. You saw them pretty much every day of the year. The things we did together is an endless list.

Things like baseball and football games. There was hide and go seek. Water balloon fights in the summertime were among our favorite activities.

In the winter, there was sledding and building snow forts in order to have snowball wars. There was an art to building a snow fort that would withstand a pounding from your opponents across the yard. My trick was to use a little water, or if it was warm enough out, work the snow, until it was more like ice.

Once that hardened, there was not penetrating my defense.

The forts were also great for hiding in once you fired a snowball at an unsuspecting car or someone who was walking by.

It seemed like harmless fun to us, but occasionally someone would get mad and either stop their car or run back to see where the snowball came from.

A well-build snow fort would protect you from both.

Scott Novak, is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com