summer

Girlsmay3006_016

Girlsmay3006_017

It isn’t hot yet, but dressing Willow this morning made me remember all these things about summer in Texas when I was little.  Could be because I’m going there next week and dreading the heat, too. 

I remember always staking out the shady spots wherever we were playing, and using them sparingly so that they’d still feel cooler than being in the full sun.  I remember the tall all-metal rocket at the park.  It had a ladder inside and a slide at the top.  You had to be careful playing on it or it would burn your legs and arms.  We’d ride our bikes to Church’s Fried Chicken for free ice water.  When it was really hot, which was always, there were tiny bubbles in the tar that patched up the cracks in the asphalt.  I used to love to pop them.  Spear grass fights.  Chigger bites.  Once my brother and I spent forever picking honeysuckle blossoms and putting the nectar drip by drip into a plastic cup so we could drink it.   Swimming felt so good.  Blistering car interiors, the smell of the a/c when it first came on, all humid and freon smelling.  OFF bug spray, ick.  The damp smell of storms coming in.  And popsicles, lots and lots of popsicles. 

What do you remember?

6 thoughts on “summer

  1. capello

    The loud Vvvvvvrrrrrrrroming of the ac unit, which never made the house cool enough. The stickiness of the car seat, and the sweltering heat of getting in a car that didn’t have the windows cracked. The velcro feeling of removing my bare legs off the pleather car seats. The heat of the pavement when I sat down. The coolness of the grass on my bare toes, and the prick of stepping on a weed.

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  2. Marsha

    The shock of being overwhelmingly hot and jumping into the very cold water of a swimming pool. The feel of the hot cement warming me up after being in the pool so long that I am freezing. The smell of chlorine. Being underwater and having the world and all its sounds muted.

    We had a pool in our backyard and almost all my memories of summer are in and around that pool.

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  3. john

    The intermingled plant smells (predominantly Sage, I think) and the whirrr of the Cicadas. Oh, and getting Poison Oak. And catching reptiles…

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  4. ~ bridgette ~

    we didn’t have a/c when I was little so I clearly remember sitting on the freezer on our back porch and playing with my Barbies.

    I remember the sticky feeling of popsicle drips and the whooshing sound of water trapped in my ear from spending all day in the pool.

    Reply
  5. Wendy Mac

    I, too, grew up in Texas. I remember being able to get a really good tennis court when it hit over 100 degrees (yes, I was *that* crazy kid).

    I remember going to the community pool for the whole day and eating wet animal crackers for snack.

    I remember lightning and thunder storms that would bring a moment of relief from the heat.

    I’m enjoying these comments, people are reminding me of things I hadn’t thought about in a long time- I, too, used to love the cicadas and catching lightning bugs.

    Reply

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