The summer fort was a big deal in my neighborhood that came about by accident. Our gang had been building Christmas tree forts for years, but with no building materials around during the summer, our play time was spent riding our bikes to various places, playing army, playing with our army men, having battles with our peashooters and water guns, having shower baths(running around in the yard sprinkler), and swimming every chance we got. Swimming meant talking our moms to taking us to a public pool, going to the lake on Sundays, and the best way, going to West Station(West Station is a story in it's self). But a chance ride on my bike led to the summer fort. I was riding behind a hardware store when I saw a big, big, box. It had a wooden frame with cardboard stapled inside the frame. They were refrigerator crates. At first, I thought getting the wood would be good. You can building anything if you have wood. But, the size of the box got ideas stirring around in my head. What about a club house? It waass a big box,,six feet long, three to four feet wide, and three to four feet tall when laid on it's side. Being young and short, as all the gang was, we'd fit right in. All of us! I asked the guy at the loading dock what they were going to do with the box and he said throw it away. I asked him if I could have it and he said I could if I could find a way to haul it off. I guess he thought I'd get a truck. No need for that. I had my trusty rope would around the stem of the bike seat. It'd been there since our Christmas tree fort time. So, I tied the rope to two corners , looped the rope around the stem and took off. I drug that box six blocks. All the way home stopping at Hugh's and Joe's house to show them what I'd found. They agreed it would make a good club house. To set the scene, Hugh is 2 years older than(I'm nine at the time), Joe, Hugh's little brother, is three years younger than me. And Pat, the other member of the gang, is a year older than me. Got that straight?. We decide to leave the box at Hugh's house since he has a big front yard on a corner lot. I go get Pat who lives two houses up the street that sides Hugh's house. I live one house up from Pat.. We decide to cut a door in one end of the box, leaving one side uncut for hinges and two lap windows on the sides for ventilation and to see out. Nice club house. The next day we all go back to the hardware store and there are two boxes in the back! Again, we ask the man and he says okay and then says we can have all the boxes that are left out there and we don't have to ask him anymore! He never asked what were doing with them. Now, we got three boxes. One box is attached to the end of the first box to make two rooms. The third box is attached to side of the second box making an "L" shape. Doors and windows are cut. Looking good so far, But we found more boxes! We're sure we can use them, but how? We don't want to make a "snake" shape. We do we do? We build up! Some of the boxes were ripped so we salvaged the wood. It went to make slated floors for the second level. A corner frame so we could go to the second level. By this time, we're scrounging for wood of any kind. A board, 2X4, piece of a board, a wooden stake would mysteriously disappear from garages. Home building sites(We lived in a new, growing neighborhood) were scoured after the workers left and any wood left in the scrap pile was taken for the fort. Small flat pieces were used to hold the two levels together. But then, there were more boxes! A third level was added to the original box and a second to the "L" part that had been lengthened by two more boxes. We played everything in those boxes,,,army war, cowboys and indians, submarine, gangsters,,everything. And with all the extra space, we invited the girls share.(Weren't we nice.). They even has their own section. In it's biggest incarnation, the fort had fourteen boxes!!! We had a lot of fun in the fort. Fact is, we had as much fun gathering the boxes and building the fort as we had playing in it. But, there was something that could destroy all our work and fun,,,,,,WATER!!!. It came in two forms,,,rain and sprinklers. Hugh's parents had to be careful not to let the sprinkler get too close to the fort. And they did for the most part, but we couldn't control the rain. It was scarce in the summer in central Texas, but it did come every once and a while. And when it did, it destroyed the fort. The cardboard just couldn't hold up. Usually that meant the end of the fort for the summer. We'd build another one next summer. But, we'd be ahead of ther game. We had all that wood from the old fort to build the new one!