ARCHAEOLOGISTS DO THAT, TOO ?

As  I  have  explained  elsewhere  in  this  blog,  I  am  a  member  of  a  worldwide  organization  of  archaeological  amateurs,  called  the  Epigraphic  Society.    It  has  enabled  me  to  participate  in  many  adventures.

Very  early  on  in  my  involvement  in  the  organization,  maybe  in  1986,  another  New  Jersey  member  told  me  how  the  mountainside  on  Mount  Kittatinny,  the  New  Jersey  side  of  the  Delaware  Water  Gap ...

... is  covered  with  thousands  of  feet  of  interesting  stone  walls.  Thinking  that  I  might  explore  the  walls,  I  asked  young  Andy  Park  from  Jackson  Avenue  if  he'd  like  to  go  with  me  and  my  2-1/2  year  old  son  Josh,  to  see  what  we  could  see,  up  there.  We  brought   a  Radio  Flyer  wagon  with  which  to  pull  Josh  up  mountain  roads,  to  stretch  his  endurance.

We  were  up  in  remote  woods.  There  weren't  any  homes  or  people  for  miles  around.     So,  we   peed  in  the  woods.  I  did  this  in  front  of  Josh,  so  that  he  would  do  likewise,  rather  than  souse  his  britches.    Josh  was  deeply  impressed   by  this  process.  It  had  never  occurred  to  him  that  there  weren't  toilets  literally  everywhere,  just  waiting  for  us  to  feel  the  urge ...

Suddenly,  it  made  sense.

After  a  very  successful  day  of  mountain  climbing  and  archaeological  exploration,   we  came  home.   It  happened  to  be  the  day  of  Keith  Hohing's  annual  Jackson  Avenue  block  party,     when  his  band  played  very  cool  classic  rock  songs,    while  the  entire  neighborhood  contributed  hamburgers,  hot  dogs,  condiments  and  desserts  to  the  affair.

My  wife  Rise`  had  some  chore  to  run  for  the  New  Jersey  Bureau  of  Parole  that  afternoon,  and  so  she  asked  me  to  take  Josh  with  me,  when  I  put  in  my  appearance  at  the  block  party,  and  so  I  did.

Late  in  the  afternoon,    I  was  talking  to   Melody,  who  lived  on  the  corner  where  Tim  and  Beth  Concannon   live  now,  in  front  of  one  of  the  neighbors'  houses   (I  won't  say  whose).  As  I  conversed  with  Melody,  I   heard  some  people  in  the  background  burst  out laughing,  and  then   everyone  --  about  200  people  --  started  laughing  and  pointing  toward  the  neighbor's  house,   and  then  Melody  started  laughing   and  turned  me  around  and  said,  "Pete,  look  in  that  back  yard."

There  was  Josh,   turned  toward  the  neighbor's  house,  britches  around  his  ankles,  peeing  against  the  wall.

Oh  my  heavens !    I  didn't  tell  him  that  it  was  only  for  remote  places,    when  there  were  no  people  or  potties  around !