What Lurks Below

It was seven or eight years ago when I started noticing a depression on the lawn in our back yard. Jumping up and down on it made me think there might be buried treasure.

I took a shovel and cut into the grass around the edge of the depression when suddenly whoosh! The circle of lawn disappeared. It was a sunny day and all I could see was a dark black hole. I must have turned completely white because all I could do for a while was stand there in shock.

That’s why they call it a “yardstick”, right?

Marleigh wants to know what I’m doing down there.

This deep, brick lined hole was the overflow for an ancient septic system. All the bricks were completely clean, with just one dry nasty pipe poking into it from the side.

One time I surprised some visitors by hiding in our “stink hole” and lighting my face with a flashlight when they peeked into it.

We eventually filled it completely with concrete slurry.