Any-who, since it's almost summer and since one of Mama Kat's writing prompts this week was to "list your top 10 favorite things about summer growing up", I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane. First, a warning, I don't know that I'd consider myself done growing up yet, so I'm just going to limit myself to the time period before my family moved away from the farm and into "town". And now, without further ado and in no particular order:
- Swimming in the river. Since we lived out in the country and weren't likely to get to go to town just to play with other kids TheBrothers and I would trek down to the nearest access point (which in retrospect probably involved a little trespassing) to go swimming. I say "swimming" but it really was more like splashing because none of us would really go any deeper than up to our shoulders.
- Riding my bike. While we couldn't exactly go biking off where ever or whenever we felt like it, we did have a bit of freedom to roam the countryside on our bikes. So what if "roaming" was usually limited to the half mile to the creek (which wasn't near as much fun as the river) and back. Sometimes we could get permission to bike the eight miles to Grandma and Grandpa's farm to have lunch. I have often wondered if Mom allowed that just so she could get a full day of peace and quiet.
- Popsicles. I can't remember there being anything better on a hot day than the sticky sweetness of a popsicle. Except maybe the fudge bar we might score from Florence if we stopped by on our bike rides to Grandma's.
- Being able to stay up late to play Midnight Midnight with my brothers. I'm not sure what was more exhilarating, being the "ghost" and trying to find the best hiding spot or being a runner and trying to outsmart and/or out run the "ghost" in the pitch dark. Those were the best times ever, except that one time I nearly passed out after running into the trailer parked just outside the safety of the yard light's glow.
- Camping. Almost all our family vacations were camping trips. I admit, I wasn't too thrilled with being stuffed into the backseat with my brothers but the fun that was to be had at the campgrounds and the occasional educational stops seemed to make up for most of that discomfort.
- The county fair. This was always THE event of the year. Despite the insanity I suffered from for always signing up to enter about a bajillion 4-H projects, I loved this time of the summer. The noises, the smells, the people watching (even way back then I loved to people watch), working the canteen. Sure those 4-H projects were a lot of hard work, but Mom always let us keep the prize money so the effort seemed totally worth it.
- Climbing trees. Sure you could technically do this anytime, but it was much more of an adventure when you can hide in the leaves.
- Playing cops & robbers, cowboys & indians, war, etc. With a huge yard and lots of trees these games really helped a kid develop an appreciation for strategy and imagination.
- Playing in the "play house". Shhh! We weren't supposed to really go in there.
- Not having to wait at the end of the drive way for the school bus. I didn't mind going to school. Heck, I loved school (well the learning part of it anyway, the social interaction part not so much),but standing at the end of the driveway while having your nostrils freeze shut was definitely torture. Also, just try dodging the snowballs being thrown at you by your older brothers while you're wearing bread bags inside your snow boots. I can't count the number of times those darn boots flew off in one direction as I pivoted to dodge in another.
Oh my! Look at that. I did manage to come up with 10 things after all. How about you?
What were some of your favorite things about summer when you were growing up?
Did you carry any of those fun activities into adulthood?
What were some of your favorite things about summer when you were growing up?
Did you carry any of those fun activities into adulthood?
