What was going on when I was born?

THERE'S a giant white deer that has for decades run through Silver Lake, the county's 236-acre natural preserve in Harrison. At least that's what some people say. The rock structure there, known as ''Pop's Cave,'' once housed hermits, perhaps even the legendary Leatherman, while the old stone foundations, most no bigger than good-sized closets, were way stations on the Underground Railroad, sheltering slaves escaping to Canada. Or so it is said. ''Some people say the trees around the lake once had silver leaves and that's how Silver Lake got it's name,'' said Michael R. Casarella, the Harrison Town historian. ''There are a lot of legends about Silver Lake.''

ONCE the Wunderkind of Wall Street, George L. Ball, now 46, is finding the going much tougher in middle age. He is still a work machine - logging 50,000 air miles a month and keeping a workaholic's schedule from dawn to dusk and beyond. But, success has proved elusive. The firm he heads - Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. - has rolled up multi-million dollar losses that have staggered Wall Street. And, Mr. Ball himself continues to be dogged by the check-kiting scandal that took place at E.F. Hutton & Company during his five-year tenure as Hutton's president.

Airport security varies widely around the world, but a review of procedures shows that in general those practiced in developing countries tend to be lax while those in North America and the Communist bloc tend to be stringent. In Europe, the review shows, the major airports usually follow a high standard of security. A notable exception is Athens, where hijackers last week seized a T.W.A. plane, some of whose passengers are still held hostage in Beirut, Lebanon. The review was conducted by correspondents for The New York Times and supplemented by interviews with State Department officials and representatives of the International Air Transport Association and the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association. Officials of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to be interviewed.

HERE is one way to view the economy: Over all it is growing, though just barely, and factories and farms have tumbled into a recession. Yet signs of worse to come are scarce. Inflation, particularly, is comatose, and oil prices are ebbing again. The Federal Reserve Board, the ogre behind the severity of the recession in 1981 and 1982 when it forced up interest rates to stop inflation, is the angel this time around for letting interest rates fall. The White House and Congress seem committed to cutting the budget deficits at least enough to reverse their growth. Such restraint might normally flatten a soft economy, but the gratified financial markets are already responding with further reductions in interest rates, complementing the Fed and helping the economy. Color the outlook reassuring. And here is another: The mostly dollar-driven decline in farming and manufacturing will fan through the rest of country, crippling the companies that supply and service them, the banks where they save and borrow, the stores where farmers and factory workers shop. Other strong countries, notably Japan and Germany, will ignore Reagan Administration appeals to stimulate their economies and buy more American goods. Congress, aghast, will curb imports, swathing the injured but reviving inflation. Consumers, deeply in debt, short of savings and wary of the future, will stop buying. Many healthy businesses will put off spending and borrowing until they know how the President's tax plan plays out in Congress, and they won't know that before late fall.

WHETHER a home is in the city or the country, it can be attacked by animal, bird or insect pests that cause structural damage, decay and unsightly conditions. Apartment-house cooperatives and condominiums, for example, often are plagued by pigeons that make a mess of terraces, cornices and facades and roost noisily on window-mounted air-conditioners. Suburban homeowners have to contend with the voracious appetite of the carpenter ant - a scourge far more troublesome in the New York metropolitan area than the termite - or the havoc created by birds, raccoons, bats or squirrels. Understanding the habits of these pests and knowing what measures can be taken to minimize their damage can save dollars and annoyance for homeowners.

WITH the question of whether the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant should be licensed for testing at 5 percent of full power headed toward the Federal courts, an answer to the larger question of when, if ever, the $4.2 billion plant will operate commercially still may be far away. Also in doubt is whether a plan supported by the Nassau and Suffolk County Executives that would purportedly hold electric rate increases to as little as 2.2 percent a year if Shoreham goes into operation can gain the approval it needs in Albany. Critics of Shoreham, including Governor Cuomo and a majority of the 18-member Suffolk Legislature, said it made little sense for the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to issue a low-power license while there was yet no approved evacuation plan for communities around the plant. They point out that without an approved plan, Shoreham cannot be licensed for full-power operation under current Federal regulations. And, they note, the low-power testing will release radiation in the reactor core that would add an estimated $150 million to the cost of decommissioning if commercial operation is ruled out.