We Made Up Our Own Pictures!

               "I'm not sure I can make it." My heart had moved up toward my throat and it was pounding something awful.

           "We're never gonna know if one of us doesn't try." Bobby Brewer, or Yogi, as he was universally known, was encouraging me, sort of.

           It was hard to remember now who came up with this idea. And I don't know how I was chosen to go first. Ricky Hale found the grapevine. We all agreed that Tarzan could swing across that little ditch in nothing flat! The problem was the "little ditch" looked cavernous now as I backed off to get a running start. We had pulled the grapevine back so I could catch hold as I leaped off the west bank. Another problem that arose just as I plummeted off into thin air with my arms outstretched..I wasn't Tarzan!

           Why didn't we have a t. v. set? We could have been up in the comfort (and safety) of the living room watching Romper Room or Howdy Doody. Mom could have whipped up some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; or popped some corn. We could have been laid out on the couch or all sprawled across that giant braided rug. It was tough growing up when you had to go out and work for your entertainment!

           I reckon that big ditch was our Hollywood. 'Course, I wasn't thinking about that now. I was twenty feet above the little stream in the bottom that flowed toward Archie Moore's pond. We used to make toy boats out of broken off persimmon limbs and pretend to sail the seven seas in those waters! We'd shave off the ends to sleek'em up a mite and race them toward the pond. We didn't set no speed records. That rivulet was a foot deep and moved at about the velocity of a one legged turtle. I've seen it dry up altogether if we didn't get any rain in July.

           We discovered the ditch years ago. We assumed it was created by Noah's big flood. We fought Indians down there. And the fiendish Butch Cavendish gang. And once we were surrounded by the entire Japanese army. I got shot about twenty times a day. I always managed to slip away and lead the Calvary or the Marines or John Wayne back to save the others. I lost every one of those silver and bronze arrows and stars and ribbons off of that old green coat in Daddy's closet. They were casualties of war.   

           It was a great hideout. We had different "camps" where we could slide in and out undetected. Me and Yogi and Ricky had serious parlays about the horrible taste of spinach and liver. And what we were going to do to our older brothers just as soon as we got big enough. And if kissing a girl could be as interesting as everyone made it out to be. And we pledged that we would always be best friends forever no matter what.

      We laid on our backs and peered through the branches into the far away clouds and hoped a flying saucer would appear.

           We also had serious talks about the sixth grade. And how parents expected you to be grown-up one day and a little boy the next, and how they talked about their hopes and dreams for YOUR future..but they never took you anywhere! We pondered long and hard on what the upcoming decade might hold for us. "It will have to be better than the '50's." Rick moaned.

           I could see the far bank growing closer. I was going to have to let go and leap if I was to vault the ditch. I could hear Rick and Yog cheering for me but I didn't dare twist around or take my eye off a potential landing spot. We had done crazier things. Like drag those old tires up to the hill above the ditch, load one of us in the middle, and push it off. It was the best gravity lesson we ever had. That tire would literally fly down the steep grade. I can still feel it after all these years. When I finally got the courage to open my eyes I'd see sky-ground, sky-ground, sky-ground till I crash landed in the ditch. Ricky "reckoned" that the roll wasn't all that bad but the sudden stop could kill you! We held some super underwater hold-your-breath contests. We'd climb to the top of the trees and throw crabapples at Mr. Archie's unsuspecting cows. Yogi got a pellet gun for Christmas and the ditch came alive with gun fire. We went down there one Halloween night in 1961 and one of us never came out again!

           I could feel the grapevine starting to lose its momentum. It was now or never! I arched my legs to get a little more impulsion and let go. I crashed landed into the top edge of the far bank. I grabbed a root, spit out a load of dirt and scrambled to my feet. Yogi and Ricky were already reaching for the now free swinging vine. I beat my chest and gave out my best Tarzan yell.

           I'd like to see Howdy Doody dothat!

                           Respectfully,

                             Kes