Big Bear Crick

Folks, I know I am prejudiced, but I feel sorry for anyone who did not grow up with access to a creek.

Yes, I do know that these streams are usually referred to as creeks. Be that as it may, most of the people in the community in which I grew up referred to them as cricks.

Big Bear Crick played an important part in my early life. I spent many an enjoyable hour hunting, fishing, frog hunting, swimming, riding the barrels and ice skating in, on and around that crick.

In the summertime, we spent many an hour swimming, skinny dipping, in the various holes that were large and deep enough for us to both dive and swim in. I mention skinny dipping because we did not own swimming suits. I know I never owned one until I was in my teens and went to church camp.

Riding the barrels was a special thrill. I guess we should have called it riding the drums because they were old oil drums we found at the city dump. We plugged any holes and proceeded to straddle those drums and rode them down the crick after a heavy rain had made Big Bear an enlarged, rough, roaring and fast running stream of water.

Was that dangerous? In retrospect, of course it was! However at that age I seriously doubt if you could have made us believe that.

Many years later the town bought some of the land and a town park was made. As far as I know it is still used by the young and older people of that community.

I guess I wonder, though, if they have as much fun as I did back in my younger days playing along Big Bear Crick.

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