NOOZOON - New Life

This is where I -- artist, novelist and curmudgeon, William James Johnson -- hang out. Drop in to find out how much mischief an old guy like me can get into.

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Location: London, Ontario, Canada

I walk five miles every day in the beautiful park across the road. I have regular friends who in our discussions are trying to solve the world's problems. So far we haven't found any answers. But the journey keeps going on.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Yawkee Bush by William James Johnson

Yawkee Bush by William James Johnson

If you didn't have the excitement of discovery in a complex bush when you were young, you missed days of adventure. We lived within four miles of an overgrown, forested area which was our favourite place to become everything from Robin Hood, to the ancients who created Stonehenge. Such a place, with an abundant imagination, had no boundaries. Yawkee Bush had the reputation of being one of the prime areas for burgeoning youth to visit with that special young thing who was yearning to become enjoyed. Now that was something you will always remember. The twisted trees sending shoots in every direction gave ample cover once you had prepared the nest.

Swamps, and a murky river dotted with bullrushes made you want to go deeper into the mystery of this ageless forest. It was then I made one of my greatest Yawkee discoveries. After making it across the winding creek, I saw that surface water was flowing towards a concrete opening, about four feet across. Using my special penlight I had obtained by saving Rolled Oat coupons, I looked through the opening and there were rusted metal steps leading into a wet well about a hundred feet below me. I just had to see where this structure was going. Usually I wouldn't take a chance like this alone, but I thought I might never find this well again.

At the bottom, I saw the shallow water was flowing towards the right, into a black void. This must be one of those storm sewers I had read about. Just a few months before my experience, the body of a young rape victim had been discovered in one of these storm sewers. That's enough for now. I'll tell you about my return to the well in my next blog.

1 Comments:

Blogger The Atavist said...

When I was a kid, we actually played Robin Hood on the property of Robin Hood Flour Mills, in Port Colborne, Ontario. There was a large wooded area, right beside the Welland Canal, and there was even a pond on which we would float around on rafts we would build.

Your post reminded me of something I hadn't thought about in decades.

3:42 p.m.  

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