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Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Summer Memories by Bea Tifton

Rain Trueax is in a non-Internet zone, so she has graciously allowed me to fill in.


Ahhh, summer in North Texas. That blistering heat that just sucks the life right out of me. I tend to do a reverse hibernation in summer because as an adult, I am prone to heat exhaustion. I stay inside, treasuring the fact that in the modern world we have air conditioning. The man who invented AC should have gotten a Nobel Prize.  Even running errands requires hydration and fortitude. But it wasn’t always that way. As a child, summer breaks were longer than they are now, and carefree. My mother didn’t overschedule us to death. We were allowed to roam, barefoot and half feral. By the end of the season, I could have stepped on a nail and it wouldn’t have gone through the tough soles of my feet. We would come in during the hottest part of the day and rest up to go out again as soon as the midafternoon heat lifted. 

 

When I was very young, we lived in East Texas along the banks of a beautiful lake. A creek ran past our house and we had a big yard. Ah, paradise. In my family, the words, “I’m bored” were forbidden. When one thing paled, we simply found something else to do. We had more freedom than children do now, albeit with a healthy dose of stranger danger just in case. We rode our bikes without helmets along the street or on bike paths children had worn through the pastures and vacant lots. If we had been very good and Mom was in a mellow mood, we were allowed to ride all the way to the Snap E Jack for some candy. I explored the creek and the lake, playing with ladybugs, turtles, and tadpoles. My sister and I would entice the occasional crayfish to come out of his hole by dangling bacon on a string. We always let them go, but they were such funny little creatures that we were fascinated by them. Minnows in the lake, caterpillars and cocoons on our plants, playing war with cattails; the world around me was my summer science lesson. My father patiently answered my questions why and how, occasionally referring me to our set of encyclopedias for answers. We swam to keep cool and roller skated without knee pads. 








 We moved to Florida when I was nine. We lived on a wooded lot surrounded by citrus groves. My friends and I would make pretend houses outside in their yard. We would get things no one wanted anymore, and furnish it with fascinating odds and ends.  It wasn’t wooded in their neighborhood, so not as many snakes.  And Florida has snakes. They would sun on the doors of our covered porch, so we would have to push it open and jump back, waiting for the snake to fall and slither sleepily and grumpily away. They would lurk in the palmetto bushes and drop down from the trees. I developed quite a phobia, but I never got bitten. We had an enclosed pool and I would spend hours swimming, pretending I was a mermaid.

When we moved to Texas suburbia, we lived close enough to an amusement park to get seasons passes. My mother would drop off a pair or a group of us, let us spend the day there, and pick us up again, hot, sunburned, smelly, tired, and happy. We would roller skate in my neighborhood for hours, down hills that scare me to death to think about it now, and we would ride my bike or shoot hoops at the nearby elementary school. 

It’s ironic that I spent so much time outside and now I hide in the comfortable, cool spaces in my house. But I have many great memories of summer. As hot as it was, a popsicle or a run through the sprinklers would cool us off. Then we were ready to go again, off into the world.

Do you have good memories of summer? Leave a comment below. 

 

Photo Attributes: 

Bare Feet: “Summer is Good for the Sole” G F Peck Visual Hunt

Turtle: Blake and Becca Visual Hunt

Ladybug: Carplips Visual Hunt

Mermaid: Annette Batiste Day

Roller Skating: “Children at a Roller Rink” Simpleinsomnia Visual Hunt

Popsicles: Jason Trumm Visual Hunt

 


 

18 comments:

  1. I have wonderful memories of summers when I was a child and again when my children were young. As a child, I loved playing outside with friends. Now I hide indoors from the heat. I agree that the person who invented air conditioning should get a substantial award.

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    1. Oh, yes, he should. I'm glad that you have good memories of summer as well. Thanks for commenting.

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  2. I loved summer. My older brother and I would play baseball all day long with the other kids in the neighborhood. I was the only girl so I was a tomboy of course. We stopped only for lunch and dinner. We'd play until it got to dark to see the ball. We never felt the heat or complained about being too hot. The only air conditioning we had was an attic fan that drew in the cool night air. Looking back, I realize the night air had to be about the same temperature as daytime, but it felt cool as I lay in bed, reading far into the night. I don't think I knew the meaning of the phrase, "I'm bored." Even now, I never get bored as long as I have a book to read or write.

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    1. I was a tomboy as well. It sounds like you have great memories of your childhood summers. And even as an adult, no time to be bored. Thanks for your comment.

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  3. Our large family lived in a two-story clapboard farmhouse in the country. We kids ran barefoot through the pastures, fields and woods, swam in the pond and waded in the creek, caught fireflies at night, and gathered around the table twice a day for nourishing meals that Mama prepared. I wouldn't take anything for those carefree memories.

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    1. What wonderful memories. I love fireflies, too. Thanks for your comment.

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  4. Yes, it was much different back then when kids could roam free and played in creeks, on stonewalls, or in a sandlot. I do feel sorry for the children today who haven't experienced summers playing tree tag, catching lightning bugs and crayfish...and who've never had the feeling of being tired, dirty and happy all at once.

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    1. I feel sorry for them, too. I'm so glad I was a kid when we had that freedom. Thanks for your comment.

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  5. I remember inviting my friend over to my backyard in the middle of summer. We would take giant cardboard boxes that my father had, and turn them into houses. We’d spend the night in them, and tell ghost stories to each other. I also remember the thrill we would have when a summer storm would come rumbling through. We’d stay inside the boxes where it was snug and dry… up to a point.

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    1. Oh, we made forts out of cardboard boxes. It was a happy day when someone in the neighborhood got a new appliance because those boxes were already so big. Thanks for your comment.

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  6. We would be outside all day! When I was very young, we lived in upstate NY and lived by grape vineyards and by woods that had a creek at the bottom. When we lived in town, I would ride my bike to the library and get a book and read under a tree. When we moved to Texas when I was 11 it was a whole different experience, but we still played outside all day!

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    1. It sounds like you had fun, and I heartily approve of the library part. ;) Thanks for your comment.

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  7. We would be outside all day! When I was very young, we lived in upstate NY and lived by grape vineyards and by woods that had a creek at the bottom. When we lived in town, I would ride my bike to the library and get a book and read under a tree. When we moved to Texas when I was 11 it was a whole different experience, but we still played outside all day!

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  8. We would be outside all day! When I was very young, we lived in upstate NY and lived by grape vineyards and by woods that had a creek at the bottom. When we lived in town, I would ride my bike to the library and get a book and read under a tree. When we moved to Texas when I was 11 it was a whole different experience, but we still played outside all day!

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  9. I loved summer as a kid! Those feet in the first photo make me think of my summer. I lived in the country with asphalt roads- and the closest store was about a mile away. I would walk to the store and get a butterfinger and a 7-up and then pour half of the 7-up on my feet to cool them off as I walked home. Such an innocent time- we just took off and explored and came in at dark. No one ever worried about us or worried about us. I can't imagine that concept these days.

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    1. No, we had much more freedom. I'm glad I was a kid then instead of now. Thanks for your comment.

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  10. Interesting and glad you can do it, Bea. I have limited internet as it turned out (no cell phone though) which enables short comments, reading some but it's shared with the farmhouse; so no way to do a blog. Glad though I have some at least. It's addictive as a way to connect. No TV but that I don't mind as I wasn't watching it even in Tucson.

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    1. Yes, having Internet is addictive. Have a great summer mostly unplugging and the spot will be waiting for you when you return.

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