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s a prissy little girl, I never had any interest in bulldozers and dump trucks. The moving and rearranging of dirt just did not jive with my ruffles and bows.

Conversely, I do remember one of the boys in my childhood neighborhood, Brian Green, was consumed with the big yellow equipment.

In his back yard, there was a creek bed where Brian, his brothers and the rest of the Marion Park gang of boys excavated miniature proportions of mud and dirt.

Brian is now a geologist, so I guess his youthful attention to machinery propelled him into a career of earthly matters.

Like Brain, fragments of my childhood persona remain with me since I still love frills and lace.

Sometimes this has been a real challenge for hubby when it comes to home décor!

Nevertheless, recently I have become intrigued with bulldozers and dirt.

With all the land clearing that has been going on around me, the construction of the new Cannon Toyota facilities off the North Frontage Road and whatever ERDC is doing on Wisconsin Avenue, I think I may be beginning to understand Brian’s and the rest of the subdivision gang’s fascination.

It has been amazing as I pass by on my way to work to see how the men operating these large pieces of equipment are altering the landscape.

On occasion, I have even been tempted to stop and watch them work.

All of this dirt work reminded me of the massive hills that were removed along Highway 61 N. when I was young.

My family and I used to travel this route on our way to visit the grandparents who lived in Cleveland, and through the years, some of those monstrous peaks slowly disappeared. Today, I even find it a challenge to remember what the area looked like before they were removed.

At first, it had been kind of sad to see them go, but I realize now, it had been done to make way for economic growth.

In pondering all these land transformations, I realized that my life too has changed through the years.

I have lived through many hilltop experiences only to be leveled at times with grief. But like Vicksburg, my experiences have made way for new phases of development.

So for all those little boys and “girls” out there, no worries, we will always have bulldozers and dirt.

Thank goodness!

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.