From lawn darts, to Sizzlean to Jack Tripper, there were a lot of things to love about being a kid in the 80′s that don’t exist today.
But the one thing defined suburb kids were dirt clods. Those grimy, dusty and perfect tools of the neighborhood war helped pass many a summer day.
There were endless hours of dirt clod wars, collecting them in preparation for a sneak attack or just throwing them by yourself while contemplating life as puberty hit and every girl had you by six inches.
Where are they now?
Swear to God, I haven’t seen a dirt clod in decades. Believe me – if they were out there my boys would be hucking them at each other daily. And for good reason. When I was 12, I’d take a mountain of dirt clods and a sunny day over an iPod Touch any day. There was an art to making our own fun back then. A creativity that is lost on our kids.
As I jogged on the beach this week with Boy #1, I spoke about dirt clods as romantically as a grandparent talks about churning butter. The same way we rolled our eyes at those old stories, he had no interest, except for the part where we threw them at each other. I suppose if that “war” were to happen today, there would be outrage and a local news story. But back then we bonded over these things. It got out our comptetitive energy, made us think strategy and created friendships. There was no malice.
Just fun.
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Craig Playstead is a freelance writer, content strategist and father of three living in the suburbs of Seattle. His articles aimed at "entertaining and helping the average guy" have been read by millions throughout the years. 
I think the dirt clod was a phenomenon created by the combo of heavy equipment that recently churned through highly packable clay soil. I still remember nailing some big dude named Arnie in the head with an unknowingly rocky dirt clod after he took my bike and rode it around teasing me. It was the ultimate in neighborhood justice.
You must be hanging out in the wrong places, Dude. I still find them, and like the comment below, I think it comes from highly packed clay soil. I’ve found that if you dig up a mound of earth, get it good and wet, and then let it harden over a few weeks you can make some good dirt clods by the mound apart with a shovel.
No dirt clods in the city. I grew up with tons of them on the farm. Those were the good ole days.
Don’t forget the different types of dirt clods. The exploding kind, the practically rock hard kind, clay, and sand. A famous story from the kids on my block was the time I threw, what I thought was, a sand clod over a pile of sand and hit my friend ind the head. Turns out that sand was cement. Stitches and a legend were the result. Ahhh the 80′s.
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