Plywood rider

Along the side of our house runs and old cement irrigation ditch. A solid 2 feet in diameter with a port that allowed access to control when we could set water on our lawn, and when we could send it down the line to Johnson's farm. we made several attempts at crawling up the cement pipe to see where it led to , but we always turned back when we couldn't see any more, and fear of being attacked by some unseen sewer monster usually turned us around.

We shared the irrigation port with 3 families, The Chamberlains, us and the Bowns. When the Bowns got irrigation we also got irrigation because to get to the Bowns yard the irrigation would have to travel down our irrigation port, across our lawn and through 3 cinder block ports under the fence.

Back then our back yard was lined with a brick and mortar fence on 3 sides that would trap the irrigation water in so that near the back of the yard in between the 2 cherry trees the water would sometimes stand 4-6 inches deep, as close to a swimming pool as we got back then. It was deep enough you could go in the back and lie in the grass and completely submerge your body and float but still easily keep your head above the water. The rest of the yard would be an inch or two deep and was the perfect depth for running and splashing. Friends would come from around the neighborhood to play in our own temporary swamp.

Real activities were in short supply until the summer Dyke made a sled; a piece of ply wood with a rope tied through a hole. The plywood, would easily skim across the water carrying a small rider. A smaller kid would jump on, knees down, and hold onto the rope while a bigger kid would try to spin and throw them off. Once thrown off, your turn was over until all the kids had had their own turn.

One Saturday there must have been 15 kids in our back yard and we were all taking turns. Chad Dyke and Jon Chamberlain were all giving rides to the neighborhood kids when Cody ponied up. Cody for some reason had built himself a little reputation as being particularly hard to throw. This day Cody would not be thrown. First Dyke took his turn spinning and jerking hoping for Cody to flip or let go , but Cody held tight leaning hard on the turns to stop the usually inevitable tumble, Cody didn't fall. Chad then took his turn and couldn't shake Cody. Then Jon Chamberlain, generally thought of as the strongest, took his turn to try and throw Cody off. Jon turned hard whipping Cody around harder than most rides and jerked hoping his hands would jar loose. Finally getting tired Jon sent Cody on a few break neck, clock wise, spins each time getting closer to the pine tree that stood near the back of the yard... and let go... sending Cody sliding underneath the over hanging branches and square into the trunk of the tree. Cody buckled over in pain. The neighborhood kids were in shock as we stood speechless. Jon stood and justified the means to Cody's end. Cody buckled over in pain and cried a little, but as far as I remember never snitched out Jon for running him into the tree.

Cody still retained the title as the best of the plywood riders. Most of the time Cody's turns would end in the puller finally giving up and saying "it's somebody Else's turn, I am tired"