The Main Ditch

By Frank "kiki" Baltazar

In the summers of the mid-late ‘40’s my buddies from the Simons Brickyard, where we lived, and I would ride our bikes to the corner of Bluff Rd and Sycamore St. in South Montebello. We would than walk the bikes about 100 yards east on the railroad tracks to a water hole where we would go swimming. The water hole was known as “The Main Ditch” don’t ask me why because I don’t know. This was in the days of passenger trains, so whenever a train was approaching we had to jump in the water because we would be skinny dipping, though some of the guys would stay out of the water and turn their butts toward the train….Ah! to be able to go back to our days of youth and innocence.