More stupid kid stuff

We lived in a somewhat rural area when I was growing up, we lived up on top of a great hill and we had a huge green water tower. It was surrounded by a fence that was supposed to keep people out.

When I was about 10 years old some of the older neighborhood kids [including 2 of my older sisters] agreed that it was time for my “Initiation of the Tower” which involved several steps.

The first step involved filling small baby food jars with house paints and throwing the jars against the tower, causing them to smash and allow the paint to drip down…sort of ancient graffiti I guess.

After step 1 was completed I was supposed to scale the fence [step 2] and climb the tower using the caged ladder that was attached to it. This led to step 3 which was to sign my name in permanent marker on TOP of the tower. I can only remember ever being ‘up high’ twice before that. Both times had been when I took airplane rides with my Dad and my Uncle [who owned our local airport], and I was terrified the entire time.

If you wanted to climb the tower ladder you either needed a length of rope or a taller kid to help you reach the ladder, the bottom rung was at least 7 feet off the ground. I got a boost up from my sisters [Carol & Diane] I started climbing, my sisters were behind me, so climbing back down was not an option because they refused to get out of my way. I was probably 30 feet up and I froze, the voices below yelling at me to keep going, chiding me and calling me names. But I was frozen with fear I COULDN’T move. After 10 or 15 minutes they retreated and I was allowed to come down off the ladder, it would be years before I hears the end of this story!

Turns out I suffer from vertigo and being up high is not a good thing for me to be.

Side snippet: We used to throw rocks at the tower causing it to make a HUGE pinging sound that echoed and could be heard all the way to our house. Our Dad would get pissed off and drive up there in his car to catch us, we always appointed someone to be the LookOut so IF Dad decided to barge up on us, we’d know before he got there and we’d just take off running.

I think sometimes it sucked to be my Dad because he was such a control freak but so hugely outnumbered.