Not many kids have a ditch running through their back yard as a means of entertainment. So on those hot summer days when all three television channels were fuzzy, we would while away our afternoons playing in the ditch.
The ditch is a result of pipe system that routes water from Christmas Hollow to the pens at the house. The ditch begins in the pens at the house via an artesian well. The water flows through the pens and the backyard, through a field and Grandmom's yard and ends back into the river north of Grandmom's house.
The depth of the ditch in the backyard is about 2 to 2-1/2 feet with a concrete bank barrier put there by Daddy. The concrete barrier has grooves at various intervals so that a metal shield can slide into the grooves and flood the yard as means of watering the grass. Daddy also placed a very wide rock across the ditch we used a bridge to get from the yard to what we called the "holding pen".
The ditch was a nice alternative to getting wet while waiting impatiently waiting for an adult to take us to the river. The bridge was used as a hang-out for Barbie and her girlfriends. They could lounge in the sun and gossip about Ken and the guys. When it got hot, they could dive off the bridge and cool off in the water. Of course, Ken and the guys would have to jump in to show off for the girls. Marshall would bring his Tonka trucks out and we would build roads around the bridge and build a make-believe town for Barbie and friends. For the record, he did NOT like the Barbie part!!!
One morning, Mama looked out her bathroom window and hollered for us to get the paper floating in the ditch. At the same time, she was reminding us that we knew better than to have any kind of trash in or around the ditch. We busted out the back door as quick as we could to get the trash out of the ditch. Joke was on Mama! It was baby ducks swimming in the ditch! She hadn't put in her contacts and could only see fuzzy images! :)
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