a l i v e & a w a k e

It's funny how a little bit of fun can lead to so much....damage.

So it is the way in the life of most kids. We want to have fun. We just don't think; not because we don't want to. We just don't know that we need to. And the result are sometimes...well let's say, unprofitable for others.

I think we got more snow when I was a kid, because I can remember the Spring run-off meaning rivers of water coursing across our side lawn. The water would come from the forest behind us, cut through our apple and walnut trees and head into the ditch, where it would pass under our driveway via the culvert. From there is would tumble out the other side and down the ditch towards our neighbour's driveway. From there it would spill down a hill and run into a small creek at the bottom.

So one day in during the Spring run-off my little brother and I decided to have some fun. We slipped into oversized rubber boots, threw on our jackets and headed outside. Our bright idea of the day was to try to collect water in the ditch on one side of our driveway so we could play in it (exactly what you do in a freezing cold, dirty pond of water still eludes me to this day). The only way we figured we could pull this off was to plug up one side of the culvert; which we did with large rocks, mud, sticks and gravel.

According to the plan, the water soon began to collect and fill up the ditch. Whether it was before we ate lunch, or after, I can't remember but about mid-afternoon the water was getting to point of overflowing the ditch and running down the main highway. Even we knew this could be a problem in sub-zero nights of early April.

Hmmm. So how to let all this water go.........

To this day, I can honestly say there was no malicious or delinquent intention behind what we did next. We weren't smart enough for that. We simply figured the best was to suddenly open the plugged side of the culvert; which we did. I can only liken it to one of those scenes where the bumbling dad tries to fix the leaky pipe and it results in water shooting in every direction like fireworks. The pressure was so great as the water escaped from that culvert it cut away at the ditch on its journey towards our neighbours.

We probably spent half and hour watching it go, throwing sticks and other bits of stuff into the relentless stream. Finally the water pressure backed off enough for our interest to wane. We were curious to see where the water went and how much of the ditch it had eaten up. we made it as far as our neighbours' yard.

You could hear their shouts before you saw them. "Get the one over here!" "Open it, hurry" "Help me get this one." Joe and I ran to the voices to see what all the commotion was all about. Apparently when we released the water it did indeed carve a lot of the ditch away. In fact, in some places, the highway was beginning to collapse without the support beneath it. But as it reached our neighbour's culvert, nature had already played a very cruel trick. Over the winter stones, stick and various kinds of dirt had collected in one side of their culvert. This, combined with the lack of leaf raking in the fall in that area of the lawn, had left a perfectly formed plug. The oncoming water had no place to go....except on to their front lawn.

Our neighbours weren't the richest people in the world. Far from it, they were struggling to make ends meet. So as part of their financial strategy, they decided that they would try their hands at raising bunnies; bunnies that would be sold as pets, as food, as lucky rabbit's feet - whatever. Their front lawn was covered with cages, full of rabbits. When Joe and I arrived, we saw all those bunnies. Some were in the arms of the neighbours, some were hopping free at high points of the lawn. But most of those dear, little bunnies had already met their eventual fate and were floating ever-so-gently in the pooling water.

As to cover our part in the tragedy, Joe and I frantically ran over and began helping to free the bunnies, carefully drying them off and setting them free. We tried to avoid eye contact as well as show the same intensity of concern for this horrible "freak" accident. "I guess the run-off is huge this year", we eventually muttered when probed. The only person who seemed to enjoy this mishap was our neighbour's son, Jimmy.

"Check this out!", Jimmy begged, wide-eyed with excitement. We followed him inside his tired house to his basement door. "My parents are going to freak when they see this." Jimmy opened the door and turned on the light. From the top of the stairs you could tell something wasn't right... as most of Jimmy's mom's preserves floated by on the surface of a dark, brownish, swirling body of water.

Needless to say, our neighbours found paying the bills for the next few months a bit difficult while the population of rabbits suddenly exploded (my dad never had so much fun with target practice). It only took a burnt front lawn the following summer to convince our neighbours that maybe living next to the Tenthorey's was such a good idea. But that's another story altogether.

Jon