These Boots Were Made For Stomping

My daughter-in-law sent me this picture of Amelia in her Princess rain boots, stomping in puddles this week. Seeing this, it made me think of a day from my own childhood over 50 years ago.

We lived in the country, on a dirt road. My house was about mile one way from my aunt Sarah’s house, and about a mile the other way from my grandmother’s house. My mother worked outside the home, and left us kids at home by ourselves while she was gone. There were five of us: my three brothers, and my baby sister.

It was my responsibility each morning to walk my sister to the baby sitter’s house, about a mile in a different direction. When I got home from taking Linda to the sitter on this particular day, my cousins Jimmy and Phillip, and my brothers Bobby, Preston and Richard decided that we would go on an adventure.

We packed sandwiches in a paper bag, and set off on a trek through the woods behind our house. I have no idea how far we went before we found the creek. When we got there, we all striped naked and waded in the pool created by a small waterfall. I also have no idea if any of us could swim, but we all jumped right in.

The water was up to my neck in some places, but I had no fear on that day. No fear of drowning, no fear of being naked in the woods, no fear of being abducted. We stomped in that creek most of the day, taking time out to eat our sandwiches. Late in the afternoon, we got dressed and hiked back home. Life was good, even if I did not have princess rain boots.