The Creek

I have written about the creek near our old house. It was about two blocks away. The creek was part of a waterway that snakes through Columbia. When I was a kid, I loved to play in the creek. I think it was because of what my parents and I did, when I was a child. We would visit the mountains, and we would wade in the cold streams. It was something we did. We didn't have video games or computers. We made our own fun, unless it rained, and then we played board games or watched TV. But, we spent a lot of time outside. The creek wasn't too deep. The water went up to your knees, but it was cool. There were also little hills around the creek. We would use the hills and the woods to learn to smoke. Not proud of that. I saw my first adult magazine in those woods. I also saw a snake and some big rats. But, the creek was still the big thing. It flowed under a bridge that crossed Belt Line Blvd. It was a four-lane road. Underneath the bridge was a flat concrete part of the creek, and it was fun to watch the water cascade under the bridge to another creek. The creek itself had a sandy bottom. Once, I was walking in the creek, and my foot went into a hole that had broken glass. It cut up my foot pretty bad. I limped home and got patched up. They didn't take me to the hospital. They would have today. Parents freak out much more today than back then. When I got a little older, I did a little playing with fire. I set a little wood on fire near the creek, and it got out of control. I tried to put it out from the water from the creek, but it wasn't working. I ran home and called the fire department. They came and put it out. Saved by the bell. No one knew I set the fire until today. I hope the statute of limitations has run out some 40 years later. It was an accident though. The creek pretty much went underground, as houses and businesses grew up around it and on it. It became a memory, but anyone who ever played in the creek knows what a special place it was.