Ghostyards and Junktowns
Written: Jul 03 '01 (Updated Jul 03 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The memories.
Cons: The realities.
The Bottom Line: If I was to turn 10 again, I'd want to move here.
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| phixed's Full Review: Dallas |
I grew up in an undersized township north of Dallas. My house was in a "development" that consisted of one street with ten ranch style homes and four two-story Tudor houses nine of which had in-ground swimming pools. Situated in an area containing nothing but miles and miles of prairies, ranches, forests and a small creek that led to a huge man-made lake/reservoir, I was lucky that there were kids on my street, and even more fortunate that some of them were my age. There were three other boys around my age on this street and until I moved away at the age of thirteen, the four of us became really close in a “Stand By Me” sort of way.
From the ages of seven to thirteen, my summers consisted of two things: playing outside and swimming to cool off from our outdoor activities. We were young, creative and constantly finding new ways to entertain ourselves. Tree house building, BMX biking, blowing up anything and everything with firecrackers, kite flying, acorn-war planning and executing, skateboarding, building entire villages made out of mud, sticks and leaves on our driveway, destroying those villages with buckets of water, soccer, football, swing-jumping, and snake catching were some of the things we amused ourselves with when we weren’t submersed in water, but the one land-bound activity we enjoyed most was exploring the countryside.
Generally we stuck by the meandering and mostly dry creek in order to keep track of where we were going. Often times we would venture away from it, but we would always make sure to have a compass with us if we were going to let it leave our site. The Texas prairies are flat, unchanging and never-ending. Getting lost in the hot, dry weather was something our parents constantly warned us about and something we conscientiously avoided. The different animals (alive and dead), mini-caves, gnarled trees, lost graves, barbed wire, abandoned shacks and houses we came across during these journeys were all interesting, but our favorite places were the random junkyards we came upon, which we referred to as “ghost yards.”
There were a lot of these ghost yards around the creek. The majority of them were small, consisting of scattered beer and Spam cans, broken bottles, old luggage, holey tires, and lots of charred, unrecognizable, forgotten possessions. Occasionally there would be a cut up couch or rusted refrigerator which were always fun to find, but our favorite ghost yard contained something that still makes me smile when thinking about it, a dumped car.
Basically nothing more than a frame with a steering wheel and rotting seats, this car became our hideout. Over the course of a summer, we morphed that car into a castle, a tank, a bunker, a plane, the Alamo, and our clubhouse. Each time we visited we brought something new to our base. Flags, food, water guns, and shovels began disappearing from our parent's houses and finding their way to our ghost yard.
I’m guessing our “garbage” is still there, now as colorless and weathered as anything we ever found and I have sporadically wondered whether any other kids have found our site and enjoyed it like we did. As possessive as I am with my experiences, this is something I wouldn’t mind sharing with others.
This was part of the SPAM W/O hosted by our favorite feces throwing simian, Fez Monkey. There were others that participated, some more important than others, but all more important than me. I’d suggest checking their contributions out immediately.
Abazur
Catboon
Emptywishes
James23
Jkkelley
Juliette
Kboo
Kris-kochanski
Mangiotto
Mcgina
Megugrrrl
MuseMelpomene
Prettyinpink
Repulsemonkey
Sleestakk
Sloucho
Sordid-1
Sundogg99
29th_Candidate
Come to think of it, this was the first time I had seen Spam...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
phixed
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Member: Adam
Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 86 members
About Me:
Like all great Epinions Idols, I too have a past in porn.
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