Words of Mine ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Memories Summer is always a fun time and especially when you are a kid. When I was a kid living in Maine, I remember long afternoons spent at the lake. Time spent swimming, playing water games, and an occasional barbecue. There were owls to listen to as well as chasing fireflies in the evening. There were the bicycle trips over to my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Bo�s house. They lived in the next town over and it took about an hour to get to their house. It was always fun to be with them because Uncle Bo would go collecting bottles with me for spending money for candy. Not that my Aunt and Uncle didn't buy me candy, they did. There was a little chicken dish (a bottom and a top in the shape of a chicken) that was full of regular gum and bubble gum, Necho wafers and Sugar Daddy suckers. Which I haven�t seen a Sugar Daddy in years and it was such a yummy candy. I also took bicycle trips over to my best friend�s house even farther away. I think Deb lived about five miles from me and it took considerably longer to reach her house. We would play the day away and before it got dark I would ride back home. We usually watched American Bandstand with Dick Clark. We loved dancing to the music and this was where we learned the new dance steps. There were walks in the woods with my Dad and Uncle Bo. Uncle Bo would give me spruce gum which was the sap from spruce trees. I would have to hold it in my mouth until it softened up and then I could chew it. Both men taught me about the trees, identified animal tracks for me and Aunt Dorothy taught me about the wild flowers found in the woods. My favorite flowers were the Lady Slippers and it wasn�t until I moved to California that I learned that Lady Slippers were a type of orchid. There in Maine they grew wild in the forest and were very pretty. It was with my Aunt and Uncle that I learned about potatoes - they grew in the ground. I'm not sure I knew exactly where they came from but I didn't realize they came from the earth. I learned about gardens and the deer who loved to eat what they could. Some summers I went to Kansas to visit my Great Aunt Alicia. There were days spent at the swimming pool, rides to the country to visit relatives and trips into Lawrence for shopping. Aunt Lish was always good at having my favorite soda Dr. Pepper on hand. One of my favorite times was Sunday morning sitting on the front stoop listening to the singing coming from the Baptist church of the African Americans. Boy those folks could sing. There were a couple of summers where I went to camp at the Cheley Camps in Estes Park, Colorado. I had lots of fun with hiking in the Rockies, horseback rides, arts and crafts and sing-a-longs around the campfire in the evenings. I met girls from all walks of life and corresponded with some for a few years after camp. Life was fun in the summer and still is. mz. em Quote of the Day The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Currently Reading: "A Ghost in the Closet is There an Alcoholic Hiding?" by Michele Dale Mitchel "Lasher" by Anne Rice
Currently Watching: CSI: Miami Listening to: Toby Keith�s "How Do You Like Me Now" cd 11:19 p.m. - Tuesday, Jun. 26, 2007 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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