Yes. We played in drainage ditches all the time. It's a wonder we made it. There was always water in them, how much depended on the rain in the last day or two. There were tadpoles and frogs and we just had a ball. There was also the occasional moccasin. When rearing my kids there was a stream out back where they played the same way we did. After a tornado some kids were down there playing in the stream and a live power wire was down and a little boy touched it and it killed him. I have been horrified ever since. I don't like to see children playing in the ditches anymore.
All the time. After a good rain, there were big puddles everywhere. We used to have a creek in our back yard and I'd go catch minnows and crawdads all the time. Had a lot of fun doing that.
Me sis used to catch all that stuff and frogs at camp and a neighbor would buy them from us for fish bait. Once every now and then we would get a big snapper and get $10 for it.
When I was a kid, I'd go through they alleys in my neighborhood and collect any empty coke bottles I could find. I'd take them to the store for the refund and get candy that way.
Benedict Arnold 