Ahh Summertime

Isn't it funny how certain months of the year hold such a special place in our hearts?  I'm not sure why summertime is the time of year I feel most content, but it always has been my favorite season.

With the first warm days, I can almost feel the breeze blowing in my hair as I race down hills on my banana bike, or smell the delicious scent as I would run inside my grandmother's kitchen to see what type of cake or pie she had made that day.


Joy, over at Savvy City Farmer just did a post on the way she grew up and those precious memories she clings to, and I could relate to many aspects of her upbringing.

It's funny, if you were to ask me about certain months each year growing up, there is little I could tell you about them.  Maybe because we didn't have any birthdays in those months, or there weren't any big holiday celebrations that hit home, but ask me about the time from May until September each year and I can reminisce all day long.

Even as an adult, summer was always my favorite time of year because it meant my kids would be with me all day everyday, I treasure that time we had together now that they are both grown.

If you asked me about summertime growing up, I could regale you with tales of playing baseball in the field across the street, running barefooted on hot blue chip asphalt to catch the ice cream truck, and about playing freeze tag and green light red light until daylight gave way to twilight when the hunt for lightning bugs would begin.  I would tell you about my mom marching us into the tub each night to scrub our feet and the dirt and grime from a day of playing hard, and how she stroked our hair each night checking us for ticks.

As I grew up, summer became the time when we didn't talk about school, or need to take notes, we could just be and hang out with our friends acting silly and talking about everything and nothing at the same time.  Working minimum wage jobs and spending time crabbing or water-skiing on our days off.  We thought those days would never end, and sometimes we wished they would.  We wanted to be grown ups and live in our own homes and not have to come home by 2 am after dancing all night or sailing all day.


 

Once, when I was in college, my sister and I went sailing with some friends late in the afternoon.  We ventured pretty far out in the Chesapeake Bay, and as we turned to head back to the marina the motor suddenly quit on the boat.  This was the mid 1980s so there were no cell phones, and the radio on board decided to quit working too, along with the wind which is why we were using the motor to begin with.

For hours, we were adrift trying to make our way back to shore, and the hours went by so that when we finally did dock it was almost 3 am.  I can still remember the look on my mom's face when we got back home and how frightened and worried she was.  But what we saw was how angry she was, because we were young, invincible, and we knew we could handle it and that we were ok, so why should she be worried?!  Now that I'm a mom, I understand. 

She knew something we didn't, that life is short, and more importantly it's very fragile and can be gone in a second.  Where we saw invulnerability when we looked in the mirror, she saw naivety and a lack of life knowledge.

 

Just like my mother, I will always worry, but I have to also let go the same way she did.  I've learned to let my kids have their own summer memories, ones that I hope will be as moving as my own.

Ones where even the smell and taste of ripe blackberry will transport them back in time.  My only hope is that like the berries which seem so plentiful this time of year they will realize that they are only ripe and full of flavor for a very short time.   I hope they memorize that sweetness and drink it in and that they will savor each phase of their lives.  That they will find their own time of year that says "ahh" to every fiber of their being the way summertime does to mine.

Embracing who you are and where you come from is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves.  We can't turn back the clock, and getting stuck trying to cling tight to the little and big hands is futile and will only leave you stuck in time instead of continuing on your journey.  Just as we can't speed up the clock in hopes of erasing the bad times, each bit of time is what makes us who we are and takes us to the next place we need to go to in life.  People, things, pets, and places will change, and you will miss them all, but if you have your memories, then you have it all.

What season speaks to your heart and takes you back?

Bandits and A Winner

 

I cannot thank you all enough for embracing me and sending such warm and caring emails, comments, and even a very special gift (which I will be telling you about in a future post) regarding the loss of my dear friend Dan.  I know he would be so happy that I shared our unusual story of friendship, and I loved hearing about how some of you have had similar experiences in your own lives!  The internet has truly transformed the way we communicate, often portrayed negatively in the media, so it was wonderful to find out that many of you have found love and friendship through this amazing global technology the same way I did!

 

 

The other evening as the sun was setting, Mr. Tide was grilling and shouted for me to come outside.  He said we had some guests, and sure enough up in a wild cherry tree along the back of our property was an oh so cute and furry dinner guest!  He had scampered up our fence and then onto the tree to have a little feast or maybe some dessert!

 

 

 

Then Mr. Tide told me to look a little closer.  Instead of one furry visitor, we had two!  Mr. Tide told me that before I had come out one of the raccoons had run back down the tree to tell his or her friend about the all you can eat cherry buffet in our tree, so the second furry friend had eagerly joined the first.

 

 

 

They were so cute, and reminded me of when I was younger when my brother had rescued a baby raccoon from a camp where he worked each summer.  We had “Bandit” for just a few weeks, while we fed him and helped him grow.  One day we came home to find him up a tree where he was making a horrible noise letting us know he couldn’t find his way back down.  Eventually my brother released Bandit back to the wild and it was a sad day knowing I couldn’t come home each day to play with him and feed him the baby food that he loved, but in time I knew it was for the best and that he would be happier living life with his own kind.  These two raccoons, which I like to think are some of Bandits relatives, had no trouble bouncing around the tree and they were really quite acrobatic and comical to watch as they swung on not so sturdy branches and feasted on the fresh fruit.

 

 

The light was waning, so it was hard to get a good clear shot, but it was as if they didn’t mind posing for the crazy humans so enthralled with watching their sweet little bandito faces!  I hope they come back again sometime!

 

Ok, now it’s time to announce the winner of my End of Summer Giveaway!!  Thank you so much for the tremendous response to my latest Giveaway, and I promise I won’t wait so long to host another one.  I have some ideas already about what I want to give away next, so keep checking back to see what I’ll be offering soon!

 

This time when I entered the number into Random.org I put a 0 as the lowest number and then 152, one number higher than the actual number of comments, to make sure that the generator would include everyone.  I’m not sure that it ignores the lowest or highest number, but I decided to make sure by doing it this way for a change.

 

 

And the winner is…drum roll please…Sue (Someone’s Mom)!!!  Sue has been a longtime follower of my blog and she is a lover of everything beachy so I know she’ll give these items a happy home…congratulations Sue!  Just send me your mailing address Sue and I’ll get your package winging it’s way to your house!