A Place to Hide

Stone bridge ruins, Roxbury, Connecticut © Steven Willard

As a kid it seemed that there was nothing better than finding a place to hide; especially if that place was sometimes just a bit scary. It might have just seemed cool and damp on a summer day, but in the fall as the sun went down things changed. It got creepy and that was part of what made it fun. You sat in the dirt and your pants couldn’t keep out the damp. You poked at the doodle bugs for entertainment and wondered who built this place, and how long ago. You wanted the place to be just yours; a place no one else knew about, but that never lasted. You had to bring your friends so that they could see what you’d found; and what you were willing to share. This would have made a great place to hide out and divvy up loot on Halloween with maybe just a candle for atmosphere.

I imagine the kids who live near here don’t play the kinds of games that would made such a place so valuable like it would have done in my youth. Now it seems kids either won’t, or aren’t allowed to play outside; are discouraged from leaving the yard to explore what lies across the road and up the creek. I understand, but it seems a loss to growing up that can’t be recovered.

Panasonic Lumix G3 with Olympus “body cap” 15mm lens. From an in-camera jpeg black and white conversion further edited in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 in Photoshop CS4.

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