The Thing in the Swamp

When I was a child attending a one-room country school in Indiana, one day our teacher came to the school and she was not feeling well. We tried to get her to rest, but at that time, none of us had a cell phone or anything like that. Anyway, another parent lingered at the school, and decided the teacher should go home and she would try to contact the parents of all the children and stay with them until their parents said they could walk home, or the parents would come and get their own children. In those days, most of the children walked to school every day.

We were all excused soon after that and I and a few other kids decided to go for a hike in the woods on the farm where I lived with my parents and family between Waterford and Pinhook, Indiana. There were some really interesting and exciting places to see on our farm, especially in the woods at the very back of the farm. We made some sandwiches at my house and put some cold water in thermos bottles for our lunch. My Mom was always great about letting us go for a fun trek and she liked the idea that we were close to home. When we left, she called, "Don't go into the swamp."

We left our house at about 10:00 a.m. and headed for the woods. We had to walk about a mile down a lane that was bordered by large trees all the way to the woods. There was also a pond along the path that was surrounded by different kinds of wild flowers, bushes and weeping willow trees. A great variety of birds were always nesting there in the spring and we could hear them singing and twittering as we passed by. We all sit down there in a dry place for a short rest. I remember finding mushrooms there in the damp soil.

Then we came to the wide gate just before entering the woods. The gate was there to keep the cows from heading up to the barn before evening. We walked into the woods and soon came to the edge of the area that suddenly dropped down to the swamp. This decline was not real steep, so we could make it down without falling. Down we went stepping on places where the soil had left a foothold. Our object was to walk across the swamp and up the other side where there were huge ferns and vines that clung to trees so we could swing on them and play Tarzan.

Walking across was rather tricky as there were clumps of soil with green moss on them that we had to step on to keep from walking in water. The swamp was quite wet from recent rains. We finally reached the other side and we stood there awhile to take in our great feat. Then we started to climb the hill which was more slanted than the one coming down. There was so much fun to have here - we were checking out all the beautiful green foliage and actually swinging from tree-to-tree on the vines. We sat there and ate our lunch while admiring the peace and quiet except for the call from several different birds. Soon it was time to start back.

The more slanted terrain was easier to walk down also and soon we were at the edge of the swamp again. As I looked in all directions, I saw a strange long white object that could have been a water tank or who knows what. Then, one of the boys said, "It looks like a casket to me." My first thought was, 'What would a casket be doing here?' This object was at a far end of the swamp and of course, we had to go over there and check it out.

Our journey to see the strange thing was not long and we were soon standing looking at it. There before our eyes sat a rather old or antique bathtub that was shining white in the sunlight. We all peered inside where there was nothing except a little water and a few leaves. Of course, we all wanted to know how it got there, but we were too tired to play Sherlock Holmes at that time. Perhaps another hike would reveal more.

Farm life in La Porte County is not always dull.