My Playground

My good friend Delores from The Feathered Nest issues a challenge every Wednesday.

In the form of six words.

It is a challenge.

But so much fun.

This weeks words? Feet, mud, diamonds, expensive, sharp and sliding

They brought back a memory . . .

Okay, at times, the river crept a little too near to the buildings . . .

The Stringam ranch was built on a flood plain. The south fork of the Milk River curled around the home place, promising life . . . and the occasional adventure.

The summers of my childhood were spent on that river.

Perfect memories . . .

Sun baking down from a hot, blue sky.

Puffs of cloud.

My siblings and I with our feet deep in the cool mud.

Squishing it between our toes.

Hunting frogs and snakes among the reeds.

Trapping unwary minnows in the shallows.

Sliding down the river bank and into the murky, brown water.

Racing home at sunset because Mom was sure to have something special just coming out of the oven.

Idyllic days.

Oh, we had the occasional mishap.

Little sister nearly drowning.

Our friend Joanne stepping on something sharp and cutting her foot open six ways to Sunday.

But the good times far outweighed the bad.

I see ads now, offering expensive cars.

Electronics.

Cosmetics.

Diamonds and jewelry.

All promising the ultimate in happiness.

And I would trade any of them for just one more day on the river.

With my feet in the mud.