The Old Dump Road

in my early days of youth was easily recognizable
by its smell. The landfill site was a wart on the
landscape of nearby woods. Now we have multi
million dollar Bail facilities with Cells to
segregate the garbage and in the Spring free
compost for the gardens. At the time my nine year
old friend mile-a-minute talking Eddie lived in
that stinky place at the end of town and as friends
did not mind the fact he was poor simply living in
a tiny shack with family on a road we hardly
visited. He thought it fun to check through the
trash left behind by huge trucks with bottles and
paper and other treasures he said. Our visits were
short lived not being used to the smoke or smell of
burning debris and during our visit a snack of
mustard sandwiches hit the spot. After times of
wrestling and chasing we couldn’t wait for supper
at home where a good hot dog supper with ketchup
and French fries might be on the table and young
legs now running like rabbits.

© Richard L. Provencher