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| Like Bug Hunting Goldmines. |
On our new property there was already a dilapidated house
on the front of the property and we parked our
mobile home in the back. That meant that we needed a drive way from
the front to the back because our house was pretty close to the exact
center of our city block. My dad ordered in a bunch of gravel and
made a drive around drive way like a rich person would have with room
to turn compleately around in the back. To keep the gravel off what
passed for a lawn around our place he bought a truck load of railroad
cross-ties which are timbers used to support railroad tracks. They
are about 8 feet long 8 inches square and absolutely soaked in
creosote. These oily mostrosities were lines up on both sides of the
driveway and around the parking areas. Gravel is more of a temporary
parking solution but my dad has replaced the gravel every year for
nearly thirty years now. This drive way arrangement afforded us a few
benefits growing up. First, we had ready ammo in case of a rock
fight. Gravel can be picked up by the handful and thrown shotgun
style sometimes while yelling 'shotgun style' in case the assaulted
were unsure of the technique you were using to pummel them with a
handful of little sharp rocks. The second benefit of gravel was that
it made a great sound when my dad or mom pulled into the driveway
splashing a spray of rocks. It was an early warning system that
allowed us to stop doing whatever naughtiness we were up to and make
a run for it. The cross-ties settled into the dirt on either side of
the driveway and provided perfect habitat for rolly-polly's,
crickets, millipedes, worms, slugs, centipedes, and sometimes, if the
little boy gods were smiling on your endeavor, salamanders or even a
snake. We would flip over one tie after another and see what we could
catch and make a day of it. We could also rotate a cross-tie into the
driveway as the perfect support for a jump. You know? For doing
jumps. When I went away to college I came home one day and the
cross-ties were gone and only the gravel remained. It probably always
will nine feet deep and compacted by thousands of passages.
