memories of summer

                                  (all photographic images in this post by bomobob, found on etsy, of course!)


random thoughts and little snatches of childhood memories that have come to me lately:

mom and my siblings and me hiding under the huge library table in the basement during those magnificent summer storms...while my dad watched the weather from upstairs, and my mom fretted about him

the cool quiet of the public library we visited often...and then leaving with a huge stack of books.  feeling so wealthy if i had a whole new selection of books to choose from!  nancy drew, the hardy boys, etc...

hot, sticky nights (before air conditioning)

listening to the distortion of my voice when i talked into a whirring box fan

popsicles.  i loved popsicles.

the magic of the ringing bells on the bike driven ice cream treat cart - oh, the excitement!  the orange sherbet push-ups that had bubble gum in the bottom...

walking on the blazing hot pavement to the public pool across the street.  never learning to swim very well, but loving the pool anyway;)

staying with grandparents in small town america; walking uptown to the ben franklin store and buying "penny" candy that usually cost at least a nickel, if not more.  i always bought those individually wrapped cough drops and ate them like candy:)  and remember those wonderful spearment Southies?!?

road trips with my family.  i am the third of four children and always had to sit in the back middle of our car, with my feet on "the hump"...i've always claimed that this is what stunted my height. hee! and i'd always get jabbed with an elbow if i moved over to one of my sisters' sides of the backseat.  oh the indignity...

being eaten alive by mosquitoes - the horrible bane of my summers!!!  which continues to this day, but is better due to vector control here in the city.

days that flew by in a flash...and days that seemed to last forever.  feelings of infinite possibility.  feelings of boredom and melancholy. 

the wonderful smells of summer - sunscreen...watermelon...fresh dirt...pool chlorine...

my pink banana seat bike...

my grandma's gorgeous peonies

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. ~Gertrude Jekyll