It’s hot in my town today! The kind of heat that makes things melt in the car. It made me think back to when we used to have heat waves in the 90s summers. When I look back the summer never seemed too hot, but I know we had our 98 degree days. As an adult the heat seems more severe, more draining. As a kid it just meant more water fun to beat the heat.
We had a variety of water sprinkler systems to keep us cool. The wild whipping sprinkler that could lead to injury or the run-of-the-mill grass sprinkler. But there was only one way to get wet in the yard that brought out all the kids and that was the Crocodile Mile slide. It was a blast! It was like a beacon to all the kids in the neighborhood. Throw out the yellow plastic mat and suddenly kids are showing up in the yard in swim trunks ready to slide. The promise of a refreshing slide into a crocodile’s mouth was just too awesome to ignore.
It quickly became a contest of who could get the most speed as they slipped right through the croc’s mouth and past the pool at the end, just to be met with wet grass.
We all ended up with grass blades in our swim gear, skinned up knees, thighs and bellies and sometimes more severe injuries as the contest evolved into doing spins or going backwards. After an hour of slipping and sliding the grass was cooked, the mat may or may not be torn and the water bill was a little higher than last month, but at least we were cooled off.
As I drive around town, I rarely see kids doing these types of activities anymore. Maybe they were deemed too dangerous at some point or maybe this generation just doesn’t find it exciting enough. Either way I wish I saw more summer kid madness. Where are all the Super Soakers, water balloon grenades, kiddie pools and Crocodile Miles?
Dreamers, do you have any retro memories of slipping and sliding down the Crocodile Mile? Comment below.