What do sewer pipes, dumpsters, basketball courts and feral cats have in common? They are all child magnets. We are fortunate that on our street all of these items combine into a thirty square foot bonanza so all the children have a fascinating place to play.

Hoards of cats raise families under a nearby apartment building, where they come and go through a cat hole. Outside the dumpster, large items like broken lamps and furniture form handy playground equipment. The sewer pipe, is, well, a great big dark hole. What more could you want?

There is one more thing this place has besides being a danger zone with germs, sludge, and rats with rabies. Gobs and gobs of kids. A parent's nightmare. No wonder my daughter wants to hang out there as often as possible.

I also used to be infatuated with sewer pipes. This was long before I'd seen the evil clown hiding below the street in Stephen King's It.

Why do dirty dangerous places hold such a fascination for kids? Is it only because parents visibly cringe? Do children delight to see fright etched on their parent's faces? Does it make children feel powerful to go to move about without fear, proving they are more courageous than mom? I know as a child I loved the forbidden. Now it gives me the shivers to think about what might have happened to me in that sewer pipe if there had been a flood. And don't even get me started on the sewer rats.