Summer as a kid brings back lots of memories! First and foremost: bare feet! My feet used to get SO BLACK! My mom would take a scrub brush to them at times!
The first memories that come to mind are the ones close to home. The family next door had twin boys 2 years older than me and a girl 4 years older (my sister's age). We moved there the summer I was 5. I still remember the first time I met them. They were sitting outside their back porch and running their hands through a pile of sand. My sister and I joined in the fun! lol! We spent many a summer evening playing "Manhunt" or "Red Rover". I even remember catching lightning bugs and keeping them in jars (with holes pokes in the lids)! Does anyone do that anymore? I remember the boys climbing the trees and Nanu (their grandfather.. but we all called him Nanu) getting after them! I was always too chicken to climb!
The first memories that come to mind are the ones close to home. The family next door had twin boys 2 years older than me and a girl 4 years older (my sister's age). We moved there the summer I was 5. I still remember the first time I met them. They were sitting outside their back porch and running their hands through a pile of sand. My sister and I joined in the fun! lol! We spent many a summer evening playing "Manhunt" or "Red Rover". I even remember catching lightning bugs and keeping them in jars (with holes pokes in the lids)! Does anyone do that anymore? I remember the boys climbing the trees and Nanu (their grandfather.. but we all called him Nanu) getting after them! I was always too chicken to climb!
Summer also meant morning swimming lessons and afternoons at the pool. I even took diving lessons and remember my first attempt off the diving board: belly flop! OUCH!
When my sister and I were real young and couldn't stay home alone during the days yet (both my parents worked), some days were spend at my grandparent's farm rather than my grandmother coming to our house. Now this wasn't a huge farm. I mean they had plenty of land, but my grandfather was more a hobby farmer with just a few cows to keep him busy. The closest neighbor had kids our age, so we would often end up at their house. The quickest way there, rather than walking on the road, was of course, to cut through the corn field (This family made their living at being dairy farmers.)
Summer also meant spending most of my other grandmother's vacation at her house! We'd sleep in, lay in the sun, go to "Flat Rock" to swim in the creek or at the wonderful pool of water at the bottom of the falls! (This assignment inspired me to do an internet search and I've found that it has since been sealed off from public access. How sad. But how nice to read others childhood memories!)
Summer always meant riding bikes. I remember first learning to ride my little blue bike with training wheels and only being allowed to ride up and down the sidewalk, not too far from the house. Then as I got a little older, I was allowed to go around the "little" block. Then the big block, then of course, no restrictions (well.. you know what I mean!) I also remember what happened to that bike! My grandfather ran over it! I left it in the driveway behind his truck and he drove right over it! You know I was mad at him for driving over my bike.. never mind that I left it there!
What would summer be without the trip to the lake for swimming and a picnic! One of the closest was Glimmerglass State Park in Cooperstown (yes.. the Baseball Cooperstown.) One thing we really enjoyed about that was exploring around the outside of an old deserted mansion that is on the property! (Hyde Hall, which has since been restored and open for tours.) Summer was also the time for visit the area attractions. When my sister and I were still young, we would make the trip to Catskill, NY to go to the Catskill Game Farm to see all their exotic animals. A highlight of that was feeding the baby goats and lambs with baby bottles! Another favorite attraction was the Enchanted Forest in the Adirondacks. They had the cutest little story book buildings and always a circus act. Have you heard of the Flying Wallendas? I used to love to watch them! When I was a bit older, one year we went to Niagara Falls then on to 1,000 Islands. I remember this particular vacation, cuz where we camped (in our trailer) was pretty close to the border and I had my bike. I went off to ride my bike and got it in my head to ride my bike across the border! I was gone so long that my parents had to come looking for me! I think they actually found me and took me back to the trailer before I got across. :o(
And I'll end with the memory of the vegetable garden! My favorite vegetable is corn on the cob and my mom used to (and still does) grow corn, tomatoes, zucchini (yuck), and other vegetables. I used to love going out to the garden and picking fresh corn to eat for dinner that night. Now keep in mind we lived right smack in the middle of town on a busy street! But the lots are long and sort of narrow, so we and the neighbors all had these huge gardens! YUM!
