“When
you were tiny I used to fill this sink and set you on the edge. You’d paddle
your little feet and splash. I did it with all of you.” This is what I told
Sierra, our youngest granddaughter last week as we rinsed her juice glass in
the kitchen sink. She grinned. Kids and water. Such a simple combination, but
one that never fails to delight. Look at
the picture.
Yeah,
that’s her, four now and charging through the sprinkler her dad set up. She
and her sister and a couple of neighbor
kids decided it would be the perfect thing to do right after school on a hot, almost summer, day.
You
know what? It could have been me and my brothers and sisters. Kids and
sprinklers are a classic summer combo. And before there were sprinklers
it was probably buckets filled from the pump in the side yard and before that a dip in the creek.
Which
brings to my mind all of the simple things that we love about summer. Like
cartwheels on the lawn (or through the sprinkler at Grandma’s like Anna here).
How
about that quintessential American business model - the lemonade stand? For me
it was Kool Aid because it was only five cents for the package of powder. We
had to work at selling the stuff at ten cents a glass and that was after the
hard labor of convincing Mom to part with a cup of sugar and some ice. We made
almost no money but forged many a sticky memory. What fun!
A
day at the beach with sand in your swimsuit and tuna sandwiches eaten under the
blazing sun. A trip to the ice cream stand for soft serve. A neighborhood
baseball game before it was all so organized. Your face in front of the table
fan when it was too hot to breathe and a Popsicle waiting if you cleaned up
your room. Strawberry picking with the promise of glistening jars of jam to
line the pantry shelves. And corn on the cob dripping with butter come August.
Watching
my grandchildren giggle and scream through the sprinkler brings all these
simple summer pleasures to mind. Some things never change and it’s nice to look
at those things once in a while. It helps push the real, more awful, world away for a bit and keep things in perspective.
What
is it about summer that delights you?
For me, Sue, summer memories when I was young are precious... all 24 of us Italian cousins lived on two streets (and my sisters and I and parents on the corner upstairs from our grandparents). We played, played, played. We made up baseball teams and kickball in the street and kick the can in the evening as our parents sat on the steps and in chairs outside our house. Hopscotch on the sidewalks or in the yard we'd play Mother May I, Red Rover, Red Rover, Statues, Tag, Hide 'n Seek, Pies on the steps.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm in my sixties and the heat bothers me so much that I leave summer to memories. Sad... but at least I have those. And fans and air conditioning. :o)
Oh, Kick the Can. Last summer our #2 son, Blaine, visited with his girls and we played that. So many laughs and such simple fun. We would have loved being in your neighborhood! Thanks for coming by. XXOO
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