Summer officially started on the calendar yesterday, June 21st. That was the summer solstice when here in this side of the world, we had the longest daylight day of the year. In Kentucky we had almost 15 hours of daylight. In terms of daylight, this day is 5 hours, 20 minutes longer than the December solstice. While the days will be slowly getting shorter each day now for us until that December shortest daylight day when each day will start adding on daylight again. But the days are still going to be plenty long to enjoy plenty of summer fun.
Here a few good summer time thoughts and sights.
Summer Day Treasures and Blessings
- Swinging on swings.
- A cold glass of lemonade or sweet iced tea.
- Running through sprinklers. (For me, that would be playing out in the rain or in a creek since we didn’t have garden hoses at my house when I was a kid.)
- Watching the sunrise. (I love it when my dog, Frankie, gets me out early in the morning for his walk and I get to see the sunrise, summer or winter.)
- Ripe tomatoes out of the garden. (Enough said. :))
- Butterflies and hummingbirds. (I’m finally getting to see some hummingbirds. Yay!)
- Blackberries hanging heavy on the vine. (Not yet, but soon.)
- Old Hymns (especially the memory of your mother or grandmother singing them in the kitchen while she’s cooking supper.)
When I was a kid, I remember the sound of the screen door bouncing closed in the summer time. I remember finding a perfect corner out of the way to read a book. I remember walking in the woods and discovering the world of nature. I don’t have a screen door now, but I still love to settle in my reading chair with a good book. I still love walking in the woods and field and even though I’ve added on a lot of years, I’m still discovering more about the world of nature.
What would you add about the blessings of summer or your memories of childhood summers?
Comments 31
Lighting bugs!! Sitting on the porch at night hearing the tree frogs sing and watching the amazing light show!! What an amazing creator to delight a child in such a simple way!
Author
I loved seeing the lightning bugs and trying to catch them too, Bonnie. We would put the poor things in a jar with holes in the tops. Then we’d let them go at the end of the night. I like your thought about how the Lord created some wonders just to delight us. Lightning bugs and butterflies and hummingbirds and so many more.
My favorite summertime memories were when my sister and I went back to the little community where we were born and staying with our grandparents, who were within walking distance of each other, and our aunt to attend the singing schools that were held at the first church we attended. The church was within walking distance as well and we enjoyed walking that country road to get there. It would be so good if kids could still attend singing schools and learn all they can about music, directing the choir and songs in the new hymn books.
Author
I’ve heard of those singing schools but never knew anyone who went to one – until now!! Thanks for sharing about those, Fran. That sounds like it might make a good background for a story someday.
I love how you were able to walk and visit your grandparents and walk to the church too. Sounds so fun. Thanks for sharing your summer memories.
Enjoying those first tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden, they were so good! Working in the kitchen with my Mom preparing green beans and corn for canning and freezing. Waiting for the bookmobile to come by my house and bring me a load of books to read. My cousin that was 2 years older than me came to visit in the summer for a week at a time. We would take turns riding my bike out our dirt road and refresh ourselves with eating a fresh garden “mater” with a little salt. Sometimes our family went a few miles down the road to a neighbors house. He was an old farmer that raised the best watermelons and cantaloupes. We would buy some from him and bring them home, enjoyed them so much! There was the one week my Dad would be on vacation from work during the 4th of July. We would pack up a picnic and go to the mountains, maybe visiting Tweetsie Railroad , Grandfather Mountain, or go riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sometimes we would picnic and go swimming at a river my Mom grew up near, I learned to swim there. They were good memories.
Author
Those are great memories, Connie. Thanks so much for sharing them with us. My cousins would come spend a week with us in the summer and then we would go stay a week with them. Those were some favorite times with some great memories. I don’t know about the Tweetsie Railroad, but I’ve been on the Blue Ridge Parkway and walked a ways up Grandfather Mountain. Not when I was a kid, but still a good time.
I loved going to the library to load up on books too, but it would have been fun in the bookmobile had come out our way.
Summertime memories are the best.
A memory at the age of 10 was sitting on the big front porch with family drinking lemonade and eating vanilla ice cream, smelling the honeysuckle on a trellis by the porch.
Author
That’s a fine memory, Donna Jean. People don’t do as much of that front porch sitting as they used to, but I can remember plenty of front porch sitting with my aunt and grandfather and then later my mom and dad lived in that house with the front porch swing. Loved that swing.
When I was a kid, summertime meant visiting my grandparents down in Paint Lick. My grandmother was a teacher/librarian at the elementary school, and a few times my school let out earlier than hers, so I got to go to school with her! (I was considered a little weird for actual liking school.) I also went on lots of research trips to museums, libraries and cemeteries while she looked up our ancestors. Other times, after my baby sister arrived, I stayed home to help out my mother. But I loved slipping away to read a book under the giant oak tree in the hayfield.
Now, summer means my grandkids come to visit more often. Even though they all live close by, they seldom get to visit during the school year. My granddaughters are here this weekend along with a friend’s granddaughter. So my house is full of giggles tonight. Ahhhh summertime fun!
Author
Giggles on a summer night sounds wonderful, Lavon. Three of my granddaughters spent the night here with us last week, but they have all gotten past that really giggly stage. They are all growing up with the youngest 14 and beginning to want to hang out with her friends more. That happens, but they still visit and we still have fun. We played cards.
Loved your memories and I can see how visiting your grandmother in the summer helped to shape the interests you have now in history and books.
A few favorites include swimming, family reunions, and playing outside until dark.
Author
Diana, I remember my cousins coming to visit in the summertime and while the adults were inside playing cards, us kids would be outside playing hide and seek in the dark. I still remember how that was sort of spooky to me since I was the youngest kid, Diana. But at the same time I loved it.
Aww, Ann, I loved your memories because so many of them are duplicates of my memories. I lived in a small town but I didn’t have close neighbor girls to play with, so my brother and a neighbor boy were my chief playmates until I was older. I didn’t have a nearby creek but I did have several spots that would allow me to ride a bicycle. (My brother’s bike, when he would let me!) I also remember summer as being the time when my daddy would often get a bag of coarse salt and a bag of ice so that we could have homemade ice cream. It was a lot of work but my brother and I gladly took turns turning the handle on that wooden ice cream churn, and wanting to peek to see if it was ready! I loved chocolate ice cream but my mom loved banana so we sometimes had both kinds! Lightning bugs! It wasn’t summer if we didn’t catch those magical bugs that lit up the dark night. I know that many call them Fireflies but they will always be Lightning Bugs to me! There was also an annual horse show in early August each year that allowed me to see many of the people I hadn’t seen since school was out! And yes, Reading! Having a book to read as I sat in our swing on the front porch was a big part of my summer vacation! Simple memories to many but I wouldn’t trade my Kentucky summers for any amount of money. They helped mold me into what I am today!
Author
Loved reading your summertime memories, Connie. We, too, often made homemade ice cream in the summertime. My dad loved ice cream, but we always had banana. That was his favorite and the rest of us liked it too. I never had a bike I could ride. Well, my sister had an old one, but to ride it I had to carry the tire pump. LOL. The tires were shot. And yes, they are lightning bugs. Such fun to catch them on a summer evening. Like you, I loved my Kentucky summers.
I remember church homecomings with decoration of the graves and dinner on the ground. Folks grew their own flowers – gladioli and hydrangeas. Kinfolk came from miles away. This meant making a new dress to wear to the homecoming and getting. Toni (perm) in your hair.
Author
What great memories, Debra. We still have homecoming at our church, but we don’t tie it to decoration graves. Our church has a very small graveyard with mostly very old graves going back to the time when they marked graves with a field rock. But we do enjoy our dinner on the grounds. But I don’t get a new dreww of a perm. Perms aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be, but I used to get those Toni perm and have given a few to my mother after I got older.
I love fresh peach cobbler with homemade peach icecream as well as all the things you described.
Author
Now we are all hungry, Shelia. That sounds more than delicious.
My favorite memory is all 4 of us kids riding int he back of the pick up truck, Dad looking for a perfect picnic spot on some old back road. Pulling over to the side, Mom handing out sandwiches and other goodies as we all enjoyed our picnic lunch together.
Author
That does sound fun, Amy. Alas, whenever we had “picnics,” it was usually when we were working out in the field. That took the fun away. Your picnic memories sound better. LOL.
In the summer, I remember eating watermelon, fresh sweet corn, fresh cucumbers, and fresh green beans. Daddy used to buy half bushels of tomatoes and peaches at the farmers’ market in our city, and we’d keep them cool in the basement. I also remember naps on a comforter on the floor of the living room on a hot afternoon. We’d keep the blinds closed, open the basement door (for cool air), and turn on the window fan in the upstairs hall to pull the cool air up from the basement, through the living room, and up to the fan on the second floor.
Author
That sounds like a good way to try to keep cool, Suzanne. After we built a new brick house, we had an attic fan that helped cool the house at night. I do remember lying on the cool linoleum floor when I was a kid. It didn’t stay cool long, but for a few minutes it cooled me off. All those fresh veggies and fruits are a plus in the summer.
Sleeping outside in my tent with my best friend.
Author
You were a camper, Birdie. That’s fun. That’s not something I ever did, but once my granddaughter thought she wanted to. She didn’t last long before she was ready to come inside. Maybe she needed a best friend with her.
I would get up early and walk to my Aunt Elsie’s tiny little house (about 4 miles)to spend the day. She would fix PB&J sandwiches for me and my cousins (the 4 boys that still lived at home) and then we would spend the entire day exploring in the woods. Some of tha time would be spent sliding down the long hillside on cardboard. Boy, would we fly. We picked berries and avoided the snakes. We would swing on vines across the creek. Of course, we jumped into the creek as well. It is a wonder none of us were ever bitten by those water moccasins that shared the water with us. The Lord certainly spent a good bit of His time watching over us.
Please forgive any mistakes. I had eye surgery on May 16 and still cannot use my old glasses.
Author
Don’t see any mistakes, Sharon. Just see fun memories. That sounds like the best days ever at your Aunt Elsie’s house. The amazing things we did as kids and survived, right? Thanks for sharing that. I could imagine all the fun you mentioned.
Hope your eye surgery was successful and helped you see better.
I would get up early and walk to my Aunt Elsie’s tiny little hose to spend the day. She would fix PB&J sandwiches for me and my cousins (the 4 boys that still lived at home) and then we would spend the entire day exploring in the woods. Some of tha time would be spent sliding down the long hillside on ardboard. Boy, would we fly. We picked berries and avoided the snakes. We would swing on vines across the creek. Of course, we jumped into the creek as well. It is a wonder none of us were ever bitten by those water moccasins that shared the water with us. The Lord certainly spent a good bit of His time watching over us.
Please forgive any mistakes. I had eye surgery on May 16 and still cannot use my old glasses.
I remember going with my Daddy to buy seeds and produce at the local farmer’s market. I sometimes didn’t wear my shoes and the feel of the cool dirt on the floor at the market is etched into my memory. Precious times! 🙂
Author
Isn’t it interesting those small memories of things you wouldn’t think would be that memorable stick so long in our mind? Those are the kinds of things that can really add to stories when we right them too, Melissa, as I’m sure you know. One of the memories like that I have is peeling off my bobby socks when I got home from school and seeing the little indentions the socks’ pattern made on my feet and then the cool feel of the linoleum floor on the bottom of my feet. Similar sensory memory to yours.
Being out on the lake with my grandparents, that summertime smell, seeing dragonflies, going to the library & getting a stack of books once a week. Ahhhh, summer!
Author
I loved going to the library and getting those books too, Lisa. Chasing lightning bugs and catching bumble bees in hollyhock blooms. Don’t ask why we thought it was fun to catch those bees in jars. Maybe it was the challenge of not getting stung. We always turned them loose.