What you are looking at in this picture is a creek that is below the house, down the hill, from where I grew up. It was a delightful place to play and all my cousins and I, and others who came to my house would go there. It was the first thing everyone wanted to do; lets go to the creek.
We would run ourside, climb down the embankment and hang on to the bushes and trees to get closer to the water and then we would play in the creek. It was fun.
There were crawdads in the creek. I guess that would be a crab of a sort. I know I used to catch them and bring them home to my mom. Sometimes we had 30 of them in a pool of water at our house. I don´t recall ever eating one as the water was contaminated even back then, but we would play with them then take them back to the creek. How we enjoyed finding them.
Sometimes the creek would overflow its boundries and in the winter a city block (where the creek was located in a huge hole near our house) would be flooded and a torrent of water would go through the conduits the city had put in our creek. It was frightening to say the least and yet we would go and just watch the water as it flooded by us and took everything in its sight. We stayed up far away from the water of course, but it was fun and fasinating to see it going by down below.
When things would get back to normal we would begin our times of exploration at the creek. There was always new trails to follow and some even down to the might river Willamatte. It was a big river and our little Perriwikle creek would flow into that one.
Why do I write about that time of my life today? Strange, but it seems I now wonder what in the world my mom was thinking to allow me to play in such a place. There was a railroad track beside my house, and a lot of "travelers" were on those trains. They were not paying passengers but just people who traveled on box cars. Sometimes they would get off and go down to our creek.
It was a dangerous place to play, in that we could have slipped and fallen into the creek and no one would have known for hours. There was so many places we could have been badly injured there but not once did we ever think of that. Now, I know I would NEVER have allowed my kids to play there. Well, at least I don´t think I would have.
Those days were so different. There were evil people then as there has been since the beginning but nothing in the magnitude of today. Peoples minds today are continually on evil and what they can do to promote their evil ideas. Our laws have it is easy for evil men to become wealthy exploiting others.
Society today has accepted bad behaviour as "normal" or a "choice" and nothing more. Freedom has given the worst of us to prey on the innocent and be accepted as having a different way of living or thinking about what is correct or what is normal.
Normal has become a setting on the dryer and nothing more.
I saw the picture of Perriwikle creek and it made me remember a different day. One where the people had a code of life that was intererly different from todays. Many things in our world today are good and many improvements have been made. These have made our life better in many ways. But, there is a change that has come to all of America. We are accepting more and more the things we used to believe were wrong. It would seem to me there is little that is "wrong" anymore. Do whatever seems good to YOU to do........that is the message of today.
I for one, do not agree and still believe there is a right way to live and a wrong way to live. God has decided that and it was a long time ago.
Hugs for all who take the time to read this thought today.
3 comments:
Mom,
To think of you playing down there by that creek is entirely frightening! The world we live in today is certainly a dfferent one...I never let the girls out of my sight... and pray every time they are away from me for their protection... do you remember though, how even when we were kids you allowed us to play all over the neighborhood?
Yes, I remember so clearly and if I had it to over again, I would not let you out of the door. But, that is an easy thing to say now. When you were little, I wanted you to play and have a good childhood doing whatever you wanted to do outside. The world has changed so much. Are we smarter? Or is the world more wicked? I am not sure which.
mom
Mom, I have come into your blog and found some FASCINATING writings. I regret not taking the time to read the wonderful things you have posted. I have NEVER heard you talk about the creek...I don't remember. But what a fascinating story! And yes, you did let me play in DANGEROUS places...does a trip to Caxias on our bicycles ring a bell?
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