Bravery or Stupidity

When I was younger I did things that were not really the brightest. I was not quite as reckless as my younger brother because I never jumped off the roof to the ground like he did. I have taken a series of "brain dead" actions which put me in a very close second. Over the next several days I will add a couple of these little snippits.

I grew up next to an irrigation canal. There was an occasional culvert across the canal which carried water across the canal (seems silly, but one persons water is not another's). Most of the culverts were corrigated steel pipes about two feet in diameter with each end mounted in concrete diversion boxes. When the 20 foot wide canal was full of water, we could scoot across the pipe to the other side (braver boys would walk it) and stay dry.

Somehow I decided that going through the pipe would be safer than the outside because that way I couldn't fall into the canal. I think it was during a time when the canal was empty and dry. Could've walked through the canal...but for some reason.

About 1/2 way through the pipe I started to think about what I was doing. I started thinking of the water which "might" come down the ditch behind me. Could I get all the way through before I had any water problems? There were several large rocks in the pipe but mosty there was a layer of sand in the bottom portion of the pipe grooves. As I approached the far end I began to realize that the depth of the sand and gravel began to increase. The slight rise in the floor caused my back to bush against the top of the pipe. What started as a snug fit became a tight squeeze. I started to wonder if it were possible to scoot backwards through the pipe.

The last few feet of the pipe was very tight. I had to either dig at the sand or stay off my elbows and just push with my fingers and toes. Then I realized the real problem. The concrete at the end of the pipe had fractured allowing the pipe to settle down several inches. I was at the end of the pipe but had to squeeze between the concrete edge and the lowered pipe top. My younger brother was there and helped me wiggle out of the pipe to safety.

What did I learn from this event? Probably nothing, but if I had to do it again I would have gone into the narrow end first. Oh, did I mention that I didn't think of spiders and snakes until I was 1/2 way through the pipe. Hmmm, kinda wonder how I lived through childhood. (Wait until you hear the next great adventure.)