“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” -Henry James
Do you remember how you looked forward to summer vacation when you were a kid in school? I do even though summer did hold plenty of chores and work days for this farm girl. But there was also time to walk in the woods and weeks spent with our cousins, either at their house or ours. We went berry picking which even though I loved the pies was still hot and often itchy work. We got to go to the creek and had those special Friday night sleepovers with our aunt. But maybe the very best thing about summer vacation was time to read. Not school books, but books I picked. I could find a cool place in the shade or maybe lie flat on the linoleum ifloor n front of a fan and get lost in a story. Summer never lasted long enough.
My June Newsletter Giveaway
I sent out a newsletter last week with a June giveaway. No huge prizes, but fun, and of course, the winners will get a book. Always a book. You can see details about the giveaway and how to enter on my News & Events Page. Scroll down to the giveaway info. Easy to enter, just an e-mail. Fun prizes. An apron for the summer cook or a dog cup and scented cup pad for the dog lover. And for fun, I asked those who entered to share something they liked about summer. A summer favorite or a summer story wasn’t necessary to enter, but some of you like sharing stories. And I like to read them.
So here are some of the things you all like about summers now and summers past. First let’s hear from Deb.
“… what I love about summer. I love lightning bugs, flowers blooming in my back yard and cooking on the grill in the back yard; going camping in our pop-up camping trailer with our 3 dogs, my grown son and my husband, eating corn on the cob, fresh peaches, and ice cold watermelon, and going swimming.
Now, what I hate: mosquitoes and flies. Grrrr.”
Then Connie says she doesn’t have any notable summer memories, just many good one.
I don’t think I have any interesting stories. My life wasn’t very adventurous growing up, but I did love summer when we got out of school. My parents always planted a big garden, so there was always beans to fix for canning and lots of corn to work up to get ready to freeze. Tomatoes fresh off the vine and cucumbers were my favorite fresh vegetables to eat. Putting a slice of tomato on a leftover cold biscuit with a little butter was a favorite treat.
My dad worked in a furniture factory and got a week of vacation during the 4th of July. We would usually take a day trip up to the Smokey Mountains along with a wonderful picnic mom made. We would find a table beside one of those little mountain streams and listen to it while we ate. We would usually go to one of the amusement parks, like Tweetsie Railroad, Grandfather Mtn Swinging Bridge, Biltmore House, Blowing Rock, or the Cone Manor Mansion. We only got to do this once a year, so it was very special.
Thanks, Deb and Connie for sharing some great things about summer. Last but not least here’s one that made me smile from Barbara.
Best summer memory was visiting friends who actually had an air conditioner!!!
I can remember when air conditioning wasn’t so common as it is today and how it felt going into the stores in town that had that cool air blowing.
What do you remember about the good ol’ summertime? Or what do you like about it now?
(If you haven’t already entered my giveaway you can either send a message or just leave a comment here. Of course I always love to hear from you any time.)
As always, thanks for reading.
Comments 12
Playing hide & go seek & making homemade ice cream are two favorite memories from summer time! As I got a little older I went to camp in the mountains for 5 weeks!!! Cookouts, campfires, archery, crafts, singing & working on a big play that we performed for our parents when they came to get us! Those are a few of my favorite memories!!
Author
Those are some great memories, Betsy. Five weeks camping. That had to be fun and I’m sure you made plenty of great friends.
We used to make ice cream a lot when we got together with family. Banana was always our favorite flavor. My cousins and my sisters and I used to play hide and seek in the dark. That was sometimes spooky. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your memories of good summertime fun.
Almost all of my summer memories involve tomatoes. Tomatoes? Yes, indeed! I live on a farm in Maryland where we grow and sell fruits and vegetables (tomatoes, squash, peppers, cantalope, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, etc., etc.). My dad built his own washing, drying, and sizing machine for tomatoes, so during that season my whole family is involved the process. Mom pushes the tomatoes into the front of the washer; Dad stands at the inspection rollers pulling out imperfect fruit; Timothy packs the “small” tomatoes, separating red and green; Aaron mans the “medium” station; Philip and I have our hands full with “large” and “extra-large” tomatoes rolling our way. Mark ferries the full boxes from the individual stations to the correct stacks of sizes in the back of the shed. Picking, washing, and packing tomatoes can be grueling work, especially in 90-degree weather. There have been times where we didn’t finish until 9:00 p.m. Obviously, supper was very late those days. Through all the work our family is drawn together, strengthening our friendship and thickening the glue that holds us close. I haven’t always viewed the overwhelming tomato season in that light, but I know now that tomatoes aren’t good for just physical healthiness–tomatoes are awesome for family happiness.
Author
That’s great, Elizabeth. I’ve always thought that families that don’t have the opportunity to work together on a farm or whatever project miss out. That work isn’t much fun, but you get the sense of being needed and important to keeping the family going.
The tomato business sounds like a lot of work. Thanks for describing the process so well. Now, if I was just near enough to get one of those extra large big tomatoes for a nice bacon and tomato sandwich. My favorite summer meal. Happy tomato processing and wishing you more family happiness.
Summertime means a dip in cool water or a slice of red melon,
An icy glass of lemonade sweet and yellow,
Sitting in the shade and reading a book,
Beauty in flowers everywhere you look!
Author
Love your summertime means list, Sandi. Thanks for the summer poem with great imagery.
Memories of summer with my Hanny! She was my special aunt. Her given name was Shirley Ann. But I was the first of many nieces and nephews and “Aunt Shirley Ann” came out of my toddler mouth as “Hanny”. So that became her name to everyone her entire life.
Summer was our time for adventures, even as adults. It wasn’t unusual for her to ask, “What do you have planned this weekend?”, and we’d be off on a road trip. Festivals and flea markets, historical landmarks…it didn’t matter the destination, we just enjoyed being together. One of my favorite times was getting “lost” exploring the mountain roads near Butcher Holler.
Hanny was called home 3 years ago today. I miss her fiercely, but her memories are the sweetest ever!
Thank you Ann, for this post. Your writings always bring up special memories for me. Today I’m remembering Hanny’s laughter.
Author
Lovely memories, Birdie, of your aunt, who must have been a lovely lady. A just right aunt for a kid. Adventures can be fun and I’m glad you have so many good ones to cherish of Hanny. I’m glad you were able to dwell on some of those as you missed her being gone. And it’s surely good when somebody remembers your laughter.
I couldn’t wait for school to be out because that was when we would head for Ky to my grandparent’s farm . I would spend the entire summer there doing the most fun things ! Catching tadpoles and lightening bugs, feeding the chickens, gathering the eggs and working in the hay fields. Grandpa cut and raked the hay with his faithful mules, he never had a tractor. My uncle would put a feed sack on the back of old Elijah and I would ride for hours as he plowed the tobacco. I also learned to milk the cows ! I cherish those memories of days gone by.
Author
What a great way to spend summers while you were growing up, Nancy. I guess you stayed out of trouble riding on old Elijah like that. Wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing them.
Summertime growing up for me meant mom and dad piling all nine of us kids in the station wagon and going to Michigan to spend two weeks with our grand parents. We would help grandpa pick corn and then help gramma shuck it. My grandfather had a tub in his garage filled with water that had a huge goldfish in it. I also spent a lot of time on the front porch sitting in the swing reading mysteries.
Author
There’s nothing like going to granddad and grandmom’s house to spend a little time, Linda. Your grandfather must have been a fun guy to keep a goldfish in a tub in his garage. And you can’t beat swinging and reading. Thanks for sharing
your memories.