When i was kid my umm had a boyfriend who took care of a house along the beach during the summers. We would go to this cabin style houise. we would bbq, swim, go on picnics, hike... his daughter and i would go around the "backyard" pick raspberries, lemons, and oranges and go to the creek right in the backyard and play around..then at night we would have bonefires, and we would sit on the porch swing , listen to andrea boccelli and just relax. I wish he and my mum would have been together longer so i could have appreciated this better as a teen and adult
When I was a kid, fireworks were still legal. The passing of this holiday made me think of the fun we used to have lighting sparklers and those dumb snakes - I can't remember all the names of the fireworks but I miss that fun for my kids! We'd spend all day outside since there weren't video games in every household, besides, how many hours can one play 'pong'? I remember playing tag and running so hard your face was red and out of breath. Riding bikes or skateboards down ridiculously steep hills and hitting the pavement and doing it again! Roller skating on any flat surface. Having sleep overs and daring each other to do "Bloody Mary" which no one could ever do! hahaha
I remember staying with my cousins for a week, and we always played hide-and-seek or played colored eggs or touch football or raced against each other.then my aunt and uncle would take us to get ice cream or snowballs.when i was home i would ride my bike to our stream or pick blackberries with my best friend. we would spend the night in her treehouse and be scare to death to go outside because we were afraid we would step on a snake.lol
We moved around a lot so it seemed almost every summer was spent with a different bunch of kids, each neighborhood having it's own brand of fun. But, summer was never summer without sparklers outside after dinner... contests to see who could write their name the fastest before the path of golden glow disappeared. Or the desperate need for popsicles on the back porch step, the winner of the game of the day getting first picks between the green, the red and the orange ones. Or the fireflies flickering amongst the sounds of night bugs. No matter where summer found our family, the fireflies were always there waiting for the nightly game of tag, or me, at my bedroom window long after I was supposed to be sleeping, watching them glitter in the dark hollows created by the trees. Nowadays, my favorite part of summer is watching my and all the kids in the cul de sac enjoy their summer memories in the making. Yep, sparklers, popsicles and fireflies!
I grew up as the only girl in a neighborhood full of boys, and couldn't have loved it any more. There was puddle jumping in the pouring rain, endless games of hide and seek, kick the can, and ghosts in the graveyard, hours upon hours spent trying to beat teenage mutant ninja turtles for nintendo, movie days that turned into movie nights that were filled with tons of candy, pillow fights and wrestling, games of "shark" and marco polo in my pool, picking wild blackberries off the neighbor's bushes, bike riding to the burger place down the street for lunch and fudgesicles, catching lightning bugs, talking on our front steps until our mothers called us in... I'll never forget those summers. One of my childhood freinds died four years ago this summer, at the age of 17, and on the day of his funeral, the neighborhood gang got back together and played one last game of hide and seek, for old times sake. If only we could go back to those days.
I enjoyed the summers I spent with my cousins & grandparents. I grew up in a rural area, so coming to visit them in a less rural area where there was an ice cream truck was a treat. I still remember eating ice cream sandwiches, sundaes on a stick, missle pops, fudgesicles, & other great treats. I also remember us running through the fields, riding horses & other lovely things during my childhood.
Two big events happen to children during Summer in the Philippines: school vacation and the lenten season. My most memorable was the one spent in the air men's village which opened up to a vast rice field. Come Holy Thursday and Good Friday, an uncle would bring my brother and I to the rice fields in search of the aromatic which emits its sandalwood scent only every Good Friday, Tenaciously, we would fork the thicket of shrubs and weeds, with a tree branch chosen for its sturdiness for it must also serve as a lethal weapon to scare or maim the green snakes,the rice field residents. This dangerous task belongs to my uncle, the leaderof the pack. The kids follow his trail, no wanderings to either left of right of his path. Good Friday is the year's hottest so by 12noon, we must be home, with the scented grass in our hands and pride in our hearts.
Yes, catching lightening bugs and putting them in a jar and letting them go later, wading in the creek, playing with the neighborhood kids, blackberry picking in the hills of Ky., running through the sprinkler, playing in the rain, climbing to the top of the three big rocks on top of our mountain, heart to heart girl talks on the hilltop cemetery, singing on the porch after twilight with my aunt and cousins.
Playing hide-and-seek with my cousins after dark (there were a lot of us) and going wading in the creek. Having nothing specific to do and lots of things I *could* do. Freedom from routines and responsibilities.
Spending lazy summer afternoons reading books in my tree fort.
