A Tale of Mud and Muck

Growing up, I don't think I realized just how blessed I was. From the age of 2 til 14, we had 5 personal acres to navigate and discover. Complete with a huge pond, 3 large pasture areas, and a creek, we never hurt from boredom. I have countless joyful memories of my adventures, but I thought I would chronicle one that usually sticks out in my mind.

I was in fourth grade. My best friend was Amy, who was home schooled. We saw each other at church and whenever our Moms got together. We shared a love of the outdoors, horses, Jesus, and boys. At the time, we also disliked our older siblings, and getting together probably didn't aid in the unity, but that is OK. We were best friends.

Back to the pond. One day (while Amy was around) my Dad spontaneously got the idea to bulldoze in the pond. In other words, he would create a trench and allow all of the murky liquid to escape. I really don't know why he did this, after all, I was in fourth grade, and the "why" is not always so important.

What seemed like a lazy day quickly turned into a day of the utmost adventure! At first, Amy and I were unfazed by it all. I mean, what would a pile of mud and muck have to offer us? We would much rather be on our horses or laying out working on our fourth grade tans. Yes, we would be the envy of the whole fourth grade. Well, I would. Amy, being home schooled, would be the envy of her older sister and only peer.

To our utmost surprise, we glanced over at the draining pond and quickly saw fins flailing and tails flopping! What on earth? Who knew our pond was stocked with fish?! I mean, I could have been fishing all this time? Well, I know my Dad didn't know, that is for certain! He would have never deprived his LuLu of fishing in her own backyard!

Tans the last thing on our mind now, we put on the shortest shorts and the tallest black rubber boots we could find. We now had a mission. Did I mention we were both animal lovers and both had deep soft spots for anything that was in pain?? We had to save. the. fish. It was our new life calling. And we would not disappoint.

Mom helped us gather any kind of container she could find. We had buckets and lots and lots of Mason Jars. The Mason Jars would house the endless number of tadpoles we found. I think after a little bit, we ditched the tall black rubber boots. Needless to say, we were thigh deep in mud and muck. And loving every minute of it. We saved lives to the best of our fourth grade abilities. We set the small fish and tadpoles free in the creek. But our "life" agenda didn't end there.

I put as many fish and tadpoles into Mason Jars as I knew I could carry to school the next day. I begged my fellow students to take them home and give them a fresh start. I don't remember who took the bait, but luckily, Mrs. Whitlatch, a fifth grade teacher, had an aquarium in her classroom, and she became savior of the day.

Sometimes I miss my childhood so much, it hurts. Other times, I am glad to have all the ugliness of girl cliques behind me! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for allowing us to have big adventures.