Summer

I love summer. It has always been my favorite season. Part of it has to do with the fact that, although I was a good student, I always hated school, so any time off was good time. Yes, it is hot enough I could bake bread on the deck, but we have air conditioning, so I have no right to complain.

I know memories are not accurate representations, but as I recall every summer day was spent either at the VFW pool or at Grandma and Grandpa's or at the park or playing in the creek or picking blackberries.

Mostly, I remember going swimming. We'd get up early enough that it was still pleasant outside and be at the pool when they opened. My sister and I would swim until we were so hungry we could hardly stand it. Then we'd eat the not very good sausage pizzas sold by the snack shop at the pool. We'd swim some more and then go to Grandma's for lemon ice cream and a nap. Most days, Grandma came with us to the pool. Some times, we even picked blackberries from the parking lot by the pool.

The only thing better than going swimming at the pool was putting on our swim suits and going down to the creek. We'd splash and play in the shallow pools of water and catch frogs and crayfish. Sometimes the crayfish would catch us instead, but we always had fun.



Picking blackberries was always an adventure. We were aware that we might meet up with a snake. Thorns, ticks, and chiggers were no joke either, but they were all worth it for real, wild blackberries with sugar and cream. Grandma always came along for blackberry picking.

Summertime is all about good memories for me. The same can't be said about the rest of the year. I didn't have a horrible childhood, but the rest of the year was more real. Good things mixed in with some bad things. Summer was always good.

I hope I can give my kids good summer memories. We've been swimming twice this week at a friend's pool. It's wonderful, but it's just not the same without the bad pizza. Too bad the VFW pool is no more.