[PKRWUD]

I still do pretty stupid things, and I'm sure I did hundreds of stupid things as a kid, but the one that came to mind as I was reading your post, was when I lived back in New Jersey, circa 1974.

I lived in a small town called Bound Brook. At the end of my street was "the woods". They went on forever, but were about a half mile wide, bounded on one side by houses, and on the other by Route 22, a 55 mph highway.

I used to hang out with the boys from across the street. 2 were older than me, and one was younger. I often got into trouble with them. Anyway, one winter day, after it had snowed, we went down to the woods and started horsing around. I don't remember whos idea it was, but someone thought it would be fun to hike to the Route 22 side of the woods, and see what people threw away (I recall stories of dead bodies, and such) from their cars. Once we got there, one of the guys started throwing snowballs at the cars as they drove by. The trees in the thick woods came right up to the side of Route 22, and still hid us perfectly. Before long, we were all throwing snowballs at cars and trucks that were flying by at top speed, on an icy, snowy day.

I wasn't a very good shot, and missed everytime, until the last time. The oldest brother of the three gave me a piece of ice from the creek edge, and said I would do better throwing it. I threw it as hard as I could, standing not more than 6 feet from the highway, through tree branches. I was unable to see the approaching traffic because of the branches, but the brother told me when to throw.

Well, it hit the passenger-side window of a State Trooper car, and broke it. He locked up his brakes, and skidded for a long way. The brothers immediately started running, but I just stood there, dumbfounded. The car finally stopped, which I found reassuring, until I saw his back-up lights come on. He threw it in reverse, and started backing up faster than when he was going forward. I froze. Finally, he stopped about 20 yards farther down the highway than where I was, and he got out of the car, screaming. He was swearing up and down, and kept saying he was going to kill me when he found me.

Finally, he spotted me. As soon as our eyes met, I started running. I was only 7 or 8, and not very cooridinated, and the path I was running on was not very familiar to me. There were rocks and branches, and ice everywhere. Somehow, I didn't fall. I don't know that I have ever run that fast again. I could hear him yelling at me from behind me, but I didn't dare turn and look. I just kept running, dodging trees and ruts.

I finally saw the main creek up ahead, and knew that my street wasn't much farther. I was looking down at the ground, mostly, so that I could see where I was running, which is why I didn't see my Mother standing there until I almost hit her. She was right by where path I was on met the creek, and looked very pissed.

My Mother was always good at catching me whenever I did anything bad. I never got away with anything. I still sometimes think she really did have eyes in the back of her head.

Anyway, I was certain that she knew exactly what I had done, and that she was going to hold me there for the State Trooper. I was so out of breath from running so hard, my lungs felt like they were made of ice. I could barely breath, let alone talk, which is the only reason I didn't bust myself by confessing.

She asked me what I was doing, and why I was by myself, and when I didn't answer her, she realized it was because I was out of breath, and she started to tell me that I was in trouble for not getting home in time for lunch, as we had agreed before I went out in the first place. She went on to tell me how worried she was, and that I must have just been horsing around in the snow. We started walking home, with me looking over my shoulder for the Trooper that I would never see again.

It was during those moments that I intentionally deceived my Mother about getting into mischief away from the house, for the first time. I realized that it really was just a coincidence that she had been there, and that by not saying anything, I had avoided getting the switching of my life.

Still, I cringe at the idea of throwing snow and ice at drivers speeding by on the highway, especially in those conditions. I had no idea of the dangers I was creating for unsuspecting motorists, but that's still no excuse.

That was one of the stupider things I did as a child.

Take care,
-Chris