Carefree Days of Summer

I love everything about summer..........well, almost everything. I could do without the scorching heat, biting bugs, storms, floods, flourishing weeds, sunburn, and t.v. reruns. Of course, there is always the benefit of air conditioning, bug spray, a dry storm cellar, weed eaters, suntan lotion and an off button.
Memories of summer as a child bring a smile.

Barefoot days were here.... finally. My dislike for biting bugs came to the forefront when I was six years old. While running through our clover filled yard I stepped on a bumble bee. He let me know that crushing his house was not the best idea. He must have been a really bad bee because my foot swelled until I couldn't walk. I ran temperature for three days and the pain was terrible. All I could do was lay in bed with an ice pack on my foot and cry. Good old Dr. Carter made house calls back then. He stopped by on his way to the office each morning to see how I was doing. His smile and the sucker he pulled out of his pocket and handed me, made the medicine he gave me taste a little better. His advice to my mother about giving me ice cream and cold popsicles didn't hurt either. Back then, we had no air conditioning and anything cold and sweet was a godsend.

Our old walnut tree by the back porch had a limb that just begged for a swing. My daddy made one and hung it high enough that, when pumping it as hard as I could with my skinny legs, it would almost reach the sky, or so I thought. My imagination would run away with itself on the days I spent in that swing.Looking forward to my July birthday and the excitement of an all day trip to Kings River for a cooling time of playing in the water filled my mind the whole month of June. Inner tubes proved to be quite a fun thing as my cousin and I would twirl about in them, kicking and splashing each other. Occasionally, one of us would float out into a current and scream to be rescued by my daddy, who was always close by with his watchful eye.

There was nothing better on a hot, summer day than spreading out an old quilt under the maple tree in our back yard. My friend and I would scamper across the sidewalk at a place along the way, fearing that an angry troll, who surely lived under the bridge the walk crossed, would grab our leg. When we reached the library on the third floor of the court house, we would check out three books each and hurry back home so we could settle down under that tree and read. Mother knew by the time we returned, we would be thirsty so she always had lemonade made for us. My friend and I did quite a lot of reading while lying on that old quilt, but there was also a lot of girl talk that went on.

Those carefree days of summer as a young girl were some of the best times of my life. We had no t.v. that blared out the troubles of the day; our radio was seldom on except for The Grand Old Opry on a Saturday night. Our children nowadays are, for the most part, deprived of a safe neighborhood where they could run and play with their friends even into the dark of night. They don't know the joy of the simple things that make for memories as old age creeps up on us.

Even though our home was very simple; we didn't have a lot of worldly goods, there was a lot of love and there was the companionship of neighbors, who always had time to sit on our porch in the evenings and pass the time of day. And, there were the childhood friends, who were always eager to spend the summer with each other; enjoying the simple things of life.

"Honor and enjoy your Creator while you’re still young,
Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes,
Before your vision dims and the world blurs
And the winter years keep you close to the fire." Ecclesiastes 12:1-2 (The Message)