The house on the road...

The house on the road was were we lived from the time I can remember until, maybe, junior high. We were located right across from the County Fair Grounds and the house sat very close to the highway.

The front porch was painted concrete and during the summer we would wet it down and slide across it. You wouldn't believe how much fun we had by hanging the hose on the post and gliding all around on the painted surface!

In front of the house there was an old lilac bush. It was so old that the center was empty and you could sit inside like a little house. I can remember how wonderful it would smell while in bloom.

At the side of the house was a very tall tree with a swing where you could swing out over a small "hill" toward the driveway. It felt like you were flying. Behind the house there was a slanted basement door (like a sliding board). In the summer we would sprinkle it with baby powder and slide down. We must have done this thousands of times.

Further into the back yard was the sewer ditch. Now this was something we tried to stay away from! If you accidently stepped into it while running across the yard, your foot, sock, shoe, sandal (whatever) came up black, stinky, and very nasty. Ugh!

The driveway curled around the side of the house and back up toward the back door. Out past the driveway there were chicken houses. Not just chicken coups. Houses! Two stories tall and very long. These were great places to play when the chickens were babies. Not so much later on. I'll explain another time.

Beyond the chicken houses there was a barn. At one time we had a pony but that didn't last very long. I can't remember why now but I know it wasn't there very long.

Behind the barn there were fields and a creek. The creek was one of my favorite places to play. We would toss in rocks to try to build an island. Never accomplished that! We would try to catch minnows. I can't remember ever catching one. Just spashing and messing around. There were always tiny plants, different types of bugs like water striders and dragonflies. The minnows and bugs that seemed to swim under the water were very interesting. Usually we would see squirrels, birds, and maybe even a rabbit. Once while walking through the field to the creek we flushed a mother quail and she acted hurt and hoped we would follow her and leave her babies alone. We just went on to the creek.