If it was a warm, sunny day, a 60's kid would be expunged from the house by a mother who was tired of her child watching television. After all, she grew up without TV, and knew the value of playing in the great outdoors. She knew, way before it became fashionable, that kids needed to get away from the one-eyed monster. Had the personal computer invaded the home space back then, she likewise would have shooed me away from the keyboard and out into the yard to plant some indelible memories of playing in the dirt.
We had a big old tree in the front yard. I believe it was an elm. It must have been of the slippery variety, since Dutch Elm Disease would have wiped it out long ago had it been of the American species. A 1995 trip to Miami revealed the warm news that the old tree was still alive, albeit MUCH bigger than it used to be.
The tree's roots were exposed on the surface. That was a critical part of the equation for perfect dirt play. That allowed the digging of tunnels under the topmost radicels. it also allowed roads and bridges to be constructed on the larger, flatter-on-top versions.
Miami, Oklahoma had some natural prairie within its city limits. That meant that over the course of thousands of years, buffalo and other large plain-dwelling herbivores had managed to keep tree growth at bay by constant grazing. As each winter would cause grass to die back, the decaying vegetative matter would add to the ever-deepening soil. The end result for me, circa 1967, was that I had some seriously great rock-free dirt in which to dig in my front yard.
I took advantage of my rich windfall by spending untold hours on my knees, patches applied to my jeans where I had worn holes, creating massive construction projects.
Dad was way too busy making a living to mess with something as trivial as keeping the lawn perfectly landscaped. That meant that the ever-shady area under the tree was largely free of grass growth, another element in the perfect dirt-digging location.
So a typical summer morning would ensue with me digging my Tonkas, Tootsietoys, green army men, and possibly G.I. Joe out of my toybox and heading out to the jobsite. That's assuming that I had put them up from the previous session, a more likely scenario is that they had been left out there from yesterday.
With that, it was time to get to work. The bulldozer, road grader, and dumptruck were employed to make the most essential components, the roads. Their activity was accompanied by engine noises, shouted directions, and other sound effects provided by yours truly.
Once the roads were in place, then the jeeps, pickups, and perhaps even the semis could begin motoring their way around. The Tootsietoys were too small, but a kid's short attention span might well be redirected to creating smaller pathways that would traverse root systems and such, perfectly sized for the little vehicles.
Keep in mind that there were no Hot Wheels in this picture, they had not yet been released to the ravenous Boomer youth.
By now, I had probably been joined by other neighborhood friends. Together, we accomplished some amazing engineering feats.
If the dirt had just enough moisture in it, it was possible to build huge tunnels, large enough to put Tonka vehicles into. Generally, we kids, who were heavily into shows like Rat Patrol and Garrison's Guerrillas, would immediately assign a military use to the structure.
Of course, you know what that meant. The green army men would surreptitiously attack despite G.I Joe's valiant efforts to keep them at bay, causing catastrophic cave-ins.
But it was okay. Digging for survivors was fun, too.
Despite the fact that I have a couple of massive sweetgum trees with lots of exposed roots in the front yard where my kids grew up, they never got into the dirt-digging thing like their old man did. I think the reason was that their grandparents provided them with enough toys and such that didn't lend themselves to dirtwork that they never got hooked.
Too bad for me. I would have been more than happy to lend a hand constructing tunnels.
Comments (6)
I was also always playing in the dirt. I remember my Tonka (had only one) and my collection of Action Man which I loved playing with. And I was one of a few lucky ones who had a big tree house in our garden. My dad was often anoyed by the mess I made in his garden. But it was great!
Posted by Ronald | December 5, 2008 12:05 PM
Posted on December 5, 2008 12:05
Slippery Elm? I love Slippery Elms – the bark (cambium layer) is a natural demulcent and great for soothing sore throats.
When I used to do forestry work or surveying and I would happen upon a Slippery Elm, I would chip off a small piece of bark and separate the rough outer bark and chew the soft inner bark (Spruce Gum was also a good chew but not as tasty.) I still use Thayer’s Slippery Elm lozenges (they have a sort of mapley taste) if I get a sore throat which is rare.
Dirt digging was a favorite pastime until about age 10, playing in a sandbox which was in reality a misnomer as it was an admixture of sand, gravel, and loam and tunnels were bridges made of lath covered with dirt as the box’s contents were too crumbly for support . A garden hose formed a river’s headwaters and strip mining was a popular occupation in which to employ toy bulldozers and trucks my father would bring home from dealing with heavy equipment salesmen.
The most fun we had as kids digging in the dirt though was attempting to dig to China. My friend and I once dug a hole in the back yard about 4 feet deep before being caught and forced to fill it in. I don’t recall being punished for the deed but probably was.
When my kids were young I tried to provide the same sort of sandbox experience for them but after building a beautiful box and filling it with real sand, it turned into the neighborhood litter box for the many cats that were about so it was sadly turned into a flower bed. Anyway the kids were too sophisticated and jaded from TV and other diversions to develop an appreciation for playing in the dirt as I did. Maybe my granddaughter will, we’ll see.
BTW Slippery Elms are susceptible to Dutch Elm disease as well as American Elms, I have a young ~15 years American Elm in my yard but doubt it will last much longer – DED is a scourge that has leveled many of my favorite specimens in VT.
Posted by Burt | December 5, 2008 8:33 PM
Posted on December 5, 2008 20:33
I too remeber the days in the dirt.
One thing we used to was add log cabins made from sticks that we used to "blow up" with a longer stick buried underneath the cabin like a lever when pressed down on the end sharply would send dirt,sticks,and army men flying every where.
Joy for joy if we could get our hands on some firecrackers to do the job right!
My son was also a digger.
Some of his projects put me and my buddies to shame.
Who knows how many hammers,shovels,saws,and unknown tools of mine have their final resting place back in the hunderds and hundreds of acres of woods that surround our house. He's now 20 and I still have tools coming up missing!
When he was about 6 he would be gone half the day at a time day after day digging I finaly found out he was digging a "tiger trap"
When I checked it out I found a hole about 10' deep and 4' around !
I drew the line when he started to dig tunnels.
I still haven't figured out how he got a heavy full 4'x 8' sheet of 3/4" plywood 20' up a tree by himeself. Tree houses were another thing he outdid me and the kids I grew up with. His had multible rooms in several trees with wooden bridges between them some 20' up and 30' long. again don't ask me how he did it.
But then when his school had a toothpick bridge building contest most maxed out at about 25 to 35 lbs before they crashed he could stand on his, about 100lbs at the time.
Yes he is a 'puter addict but uses it to research his projects which have included building a working jet engine to put on his Mom's bicycle. Most of his projects I'm afraid to ask about.
Oh, to be young again !
Posted by Bob | December 5, 2008 11:35 PM
Posted on December 5, 2008 23:35
Thank heavens for digging in the dirt! Something that today seems to be a lost art for todays children?? I played in the dirt with tonka and cars! I even had the yellow tonka frontend loader with shovel! Playing with little green, plastic army men in the dirt was great! Making tunnel and bunkers! Catching worms and snails was also a fun activity! And of course, making mud pies and throwing at my kid sister! We also played in the dirt under a big pine tree!
Posted by Rivers End | January 1, 2009 6:16 PM
Posted on January 1, 2009 18:16
Young is a state of mind.
I am sill skinny and young.
Southern smiles and world peace,
Sharon
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
Posted by Sharon/The Baby Boomer Queen | June 21, 2009 6:48 AM
Posted on June 21, 2009 06:48
Ron, your article brought up so many memories and thoughts. My father would get some sand from a beach somewhere near us. We have plenty of them in Maine, and he would make us a sand area with boards around it toward the far back of the yard. It was a great time. We were often at the beaches as well where tunnels, holes, pools of water and dams, and all sorts of castles and fun. It was hard to beat.
You mention your father being to busy to landscape a lot. I noticed that most parents did not bother with landscaping, or beautifying, or upgrading in the 60s and even most of the 70s. They were too busy working, or taking the kids somewhere or just living life. I really think too much emphasis is on buildings and looks and not people and fun. I am not sure if they know how to have fun or deal with people now.
We got a huge elm tree back at my mother’s place. Been there before 70 and is still thriving. I do not know what type of Elm it is but I do remember a good many of them dying in the 60s.
Then there is the sad tale of the Buffalo. One history show on TV said there were 40 to 60 million of them at one time. It takes an awful lot of killing to reduce them to almost nothing. And the main reason for the killing? One, to rob the Indians of a good healthy self sustaining food source. But two, to rob us of that good free food source as well. Beef Barons made good money selling beef to us and stopping us from having access to any alternative food sources. But they also permanently messed up the eco-system as well. Nice going Gents.
It is tragic that man can behave so ruthlessly toward his fellow men. Now, as for tasted in toys changing, I think we used what was available to us. If we would have had other options, we might have taken advantage of them. But what we can say, is that we had different toys and they were fun and memories of them remind us of a very great time in US and world history. We were most fortunate to live at that time. I can’t say it enough.
I do also remember quite a bit of dirt forming on the sides of the road. Rain would usually keep it pretty clean. After a good rain or during it, worms would come out and end up dead in puddles. There must have been lots of worms then because it happened all the time. And with some good sun, they would dry up hard. I don’t see a lot of worms in puddles anymore. Could that be a sign of something, even as frogs have become rare?
Posted by Scott Irv | June 23, 2009 12:44 AM
Posted on June 23, 2009 00:44