A Degree in Dirt--from Growing Up in Boom Times

Growing Up in Boom Times isÂ Â is now availableÂ directly from the publisher at: http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookHome.aspx

Â Â Â I do know that my sisterÂ didnâ€™t participate in the grand underground fort that I and a few of my friends dug in the field a few blocks away from my house.Â The soil in that particular field was reddish sand that dug easily and smelled good, almost as if it were laced with sassafras roots.Â We made a series of short tunnels, and anyone watching us surely could have concluded that we had evolved from gophers or moles.Â

Â Â Â Â My mother got to see what we were doing each day during construction, because I brought a lot of my work home with me on my clothes and in my pockets.Â I am sure that she learned early on to always check my pockets before washing my clothes, for sand or acorns or whatever.Â Iâ€™ll bet she did it cautiously, however, at least after the time I brought home a literal bucket of snakes.Â It was a surprise, and she screamed a bit, but at least it wasnâ€™t concealed.Â Imagine putting your hand in your kidâ€™s pants pocket and pulling out a snake.Â But it would never have happened; I had more sense than that.Â Heck, the darn thing might have bitten me.

Â Â Â Â I feel sorry for any kid who doesnâ€™t get an early and hands-on education in dirt.Â Itâ€™s now scientifically proven that kids who are allowed to play in the good earth develop a resistance or tolerance to a whole range of otherwise harmful bacteria and are thus a lot more healthy.Â I got my degree in dirt with honors.Â You know how honored graduates get those gold cords to wear on their shoulder at graduation?Â I wore my badge of honor every day in shirt-sleeve weather in the blackened arms of my white tee shirts, where I would wipe my sweaty face.

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Chris Brockman

Shouldn'tGrowing Up in Boom Times

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â be on your summer reading list?

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Boom TimesÂ has:

Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Smart writing
Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Insightful observations
Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Great memories

Chris Brockman's

Growing Up in Boom Times

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â is available from the publisher at:

http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookHome.aspx

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â or from Amazon.com

Comments: 24

JustMe ~I'm happy to be~ Jun 16, 2011, 7:49pm UTC

I was such a tomboy. I was out in the dirt all the time! :)

Chris Brockman Jun 16, 2011, 7:51pm UTC

I would have loved to get dirty with you. Ooops, that didn't sound right. :)>

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JustMe ~I'm happy to be~ Jun 16, 2011, 7:53pm UTC

Silly Chris! :)

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stephen berwaldt Jun 16, 2011, 8:47pm UTC

I remember getting filthy, but my friend and I were more tree-fort makers. I was a lover of fire. I used to play with matches and watch them burn just to watch the flames flicker and dance until the match burned out and the sulfur smell elated me. Then one day, I set a field on fire and three fire trucks had to be called out to put out the flames! I was a handful. Your excerpts bring that all back into the forefront of my brain and make me reminisce. I suspect your book will cause that effect in your readers that think back on the "good old days!" I'm sure getting dirty with me in not quite so appealing as with Michelle, but I'm am animal with a shovel and wheelbarrow! :)

Thank you posting to the Triple Name Club.

stephen berwaldt Jun 17, 2011, 3:58pm UTC

and Thank you submitting to the Gatherâ€™s Best Writers and Artists.

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elizabeth evans Jun 16, 2011, 9:01pm UTC

I still love digging in the dirt. I spent a good part of the afternoon doing just that as well as hauling manure and compost for the gardens.

Just ordered the book....I think it will be reviving old memories.

Chris Brockman Jun 16, 2011, 9:50pm UTC

Good natural dirt, also called earth, is really the cycle of life all rolled into one. It's the memory of life complete, the medium of life in progress, and resting place of life fulfilled. I will be interested to hear what you think of the book.

elizabeth evans Jun 16, 2011, 9:55pm UTC

I should have it in a few days....I'll let you know. From the excepts you have provided so far it seems you had a similar childhood as my own.

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Karen E. Jun 16, 2011, 10:08pm UTC

Such great writing Chris. My children grew up on the farm and requried a hosing down at the back door more than I can tell. We didn't fear dirt then. I think for the better then.

Chris Brockman Jun 17, 2011, 8:35am UTC

Thanks, Karen. I think letting kids get honestly dirty keeps them well grounded. :)>

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Kushal Poddar Jun 16, 2011, 10:15pm UTC

Lucky you! I was born and brought up alone with my sketched friends on papers

Chris Brockman Jun 17, 2011, 8:39am UTC

I was lucky, Kushal. Even when I was alone, the woods and water around me made great companions. As for you, I don't know the details, but your experience clearly enhanced your imagination and proclivity for putting things on paper.

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William Dotani Jun 17, 2011, 1:05am UTC

I'm sure a bucket of snakes made your mom's day.

Chris Brockman Jun 17, 2011, 8:32am UTC

My mom, were she still alive, could write a gresat memoir of some of the things I write about, from a whole different perspective. The freedoms I had as child were her worries.

William Dotani Jun 20, 2011, 3:41am UTC

Back then I do not recall the 'stranger' dangers like today. Back then there wasn't a lot of construction and land development schemes, so there were woods to play in. Where I used to play is now a golf course.

Chris Brockman Jun 20, 2011, 6:13pm UTC

My wonderful woods is now McMansions.

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David W. Jun 17, 2011, 11:23am UTC

When I was young, so long ago it's hard to remember, I was always in the dirt. Once my mother asked our family doctor, back when they still made house calls, "David is always in the dirt, can it harm him?" His answer, "A lttle dirt never hurt anybody."

That was back in the days before handwipes anti-bacteria soaps. I encourgaed my kids to get down and dirty, litteraly.

Great story as usual, and, oh so to true to me.

Chris Brockman Jun 17, 2011, 11:58am UTC

Thank you for your afirmation of the good earth.

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Mustafa Demiri Jun 17, 2011, 8:14pm UTC

I grew up in a lot of different places, but wherever I went, I always sought out those wonders of nature... You have a wonderful and lively voice, Chris, and I know that your book will be a success.

Chris Brockman Jun 17, 2011, 8:30pm UTC

Thanks, Mustafa. My book is a success already to me for just having written it. I understand what Curt John Ducasse meant when he propounded in his The Philosophy of Art that an artist is entirely successful if his or her art reflects back what he or she put into it.

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William Dotani Jun 18, 2011, 4:48pm UTC

I do remember reading a report about nutrition in an African village and that the children who had eaten the clay soils healthier.
I guess if someone says eat dirt, it a nutritional compliment.

Chris Brockman Jun 18, 2011, 4:51pm UTC

A lot of minerals therein.

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Barbary Chaapel Jul 16, 2011, 1:46pm UTC

"Imagine putting your hand in your kid’s pants pocket and pulling out a snake."

Were that to happen I would be in the next county sooooooooo fast!

I remember building terrariums.

Your stories are great, Chris. Much luck with your book.

Chris Brockman Jul 16, 2011, 3:03pm UTC

Thanks, Barbary. The stories create a more complete picture as parts of a whole. Those who have read Growing Up in Boom Times, so far, have been enthusiasticaly positive.

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A Degree in Dirt--from Growing Up in Boom Times

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