The pits

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2011 (4890 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’ll start with this… one of my favourite things about summer in Manitoba is also illegal. I should also state that I publicly and strongly discourage anyone from engaging in this activity. Instead, go to a public beach or backyard swimming pool to swim.

I will also state that if you grew up where I grew up, then the following summer activity was part of every day life. It was just something “kids from the country” did. The pits. Gravel pits. Home of the clearest, most beautiful water in the province. Where I grew up, we had many different “pits” to choose from. None of them could be spotted from any highway or road, all required strategic entry and parking methods, and were home to some of the greatest summer memories money can’t buy.

The pits are an amazing thing. Each one had it’s own unofficial name, so you could say them publicly without actually disclosing their location. I had a bunch at my disposal around my hometown that I’m convinced only my dog and I knew about. You know when you drive past a huge gravel pit and you see that beautiful blue/green body of water? Those aren’t the ones I’m talking about. These look the same, but you can’t see them. I still visit one that sits in middle of farmer’s field and you can’t see it until you’re literally in it. 20 feet back of the lip of the pit and you see nothing. Just field. Walk forward a bit, and it appears like a miracle.

Growing up in the country, there were days when it was +30 C, you would head to the pits, see zero cars parked anywhere, hear zero noise emitting from your destination… then boom, get to the lip of the pit and there would be 50 people there. Bonus: you knew them all. We were that good at it.

The pits. The oasis of the prairies. You do not have my permission to go find them. You do have my permission to nod and know what I’m talking about though.

— Ace Burpee / It’s a Winnipeg Thing