In Reply to: re: re: the rocks posted by jackobite on April 07, 2007 at 11:47:15:

Like yourself, JDP, I enjoyed many a day on the hogies much to my mothers annoyance. With no spin driers and one pair of pants for the summer a parents patience was often put to the test. it was not unusual to see a line of socks hanging up on the wire fence along the river drying in the sun. The socks would have been whacked off the river bank first to quicken their drying. Several incidents like this would leave the socks thread bare. The backsides of pants were often worn through from sliding down the river bank and mothers creativeness with the needle and thread could be seen with the variety of patches and relocated pockets to cover up the damage. Follow the leader was a joy to watch when the bigger lads showed off their skills. When the leader reached the end of hogies and did the return loop the fun started. Two lads heading for the same stone from opposite sides required great skill to avoid collisions and wet feet or when the leader skipped several stones in one loop often led to lads falling short and into the river. The winner was the last man still playing with dry feet!