Hedges

  I grew up about 20 miles west of London, England and, for six of my childhood years, World War 2 was being waged. Apart from the air raids and bombing, we suffered from shortages of food and NO TOYS. All the toy factories were producing parts for tanks or Spitfires. But, in northern Europe,we also had the greatest toys known to boykind ( or girlkind I suppose). We had HEDGES. Every little field was surrounded with them, our gardens were separated by them. And, the number of uses for a hedge just about boggles the inventive young mind.
  In those days , we had our usual crew. There was Michael Williams, Stephen Farr, John Phillipson and myself. When we let the girls join in, there was Jackie Warren (Oh! She was soooo gorgeous), Hannah Bruun and Wendy Nextdoor (never could remember her last name. Come to think of it, after all these years, I'm not too sure about the first either!). In the big house at the end of the street lived the Mobbs. They had a problem, they had money, lots of it. They also had three sons. For all I knew, they could have had some more hiding in the bushes. They were automatically the enemy in anything we did. 

  Across the street from Michael's house was the most beautiful hedge. Absolute class A. It was about 200 yards long, anywhere from 4 to 8 feet tall and about 15 to 20 feet thick from front to back. It also had blackberries so, at certain times of year, we were self sustaining. It bordered a field which was actually part of a golf course.
  Hedges are so versatile. This one could be a B17 flying on a bombing mission over Nazi Germany, and the cows in the adjacent field would then become German ME109 fighters. Like the B17, the hedge had many gun turrets from which we could shoot at the enemy. Later in the day, the hedge could become a fort on the edge of the Sahara desert and we would be Foreign Legionnaires defending it from the Arabs on camels (cows). Later still, the hedge would be the bridge of HMS Ark Royal, and the cows would be Italian destroyers, as we fought courageously in the Mediterranean Sea. That hedge certainly was the finest toy any young lad could ever ask for.
  Now, Western Washington has some very fine hedges. There is one in particular in Gig Harbor along the edge of the airport near the Narrows Bridge which has caught my eye. I am sure it could be equally versatile. But, the trouble is that the kids have not been taught to respect and use hedges properly. Maybe I should talk to the local education hierarchy to see if I could give some lectures to kids on the proper care and use of hedges as an educational medium.
  I feel extremely sorry for the hundreds of thousands of kids in the Midwest and Southwest who have grown right through their formative years without ever seeing a hedge. Such a terrible shame!
  The other great thing about hedges is that you don't outgrow them like you do Fisher-Price or Lego. It didn't take long after the war was over for me to find out how much fun a girl can be in a hedge! But, that's another story.