Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A time it was and what a time it was

We've spent many hours recently (make that many many hours) trying to organize some personal travel around my husband's ever changing work travel. We thought we had finally gotten at least one portion sorted out only to discover we were scheduled to fly two places on the same day later this summer. And that's when my husband let out a big sigh and said, "I'm ready for summer to be over. This is insane."

When did summertime become complicated?

I remember so clearly being a kid and feeling those last few days of school crawl by at a snail's pace as we waited for summer to officially begin. I remember being hot because not everyone and everything was air conditioned. I remember the days stretching out in front of us, seemingly endless and waiting to be filled. Summer wasn't organized, scheduled, or structured ...the hours and days and minutes grew from the seeds of our own daydreams and imaginations. It was a world of possibility and freedom, of time and space.

Running barefoot thru the sprinkler then spreading your towel on the hot pavement to warm up. Lying on your back in the grass and watching the clouds go by. Hunting four leaf clovers. Giant games of hide and seek and kick the can and being outside late, way past your normal bedtime. Catching fireflies in a jar and in your tightly cupped hands. The neighborhood pool. A Popsicle eaten while sitting on the curb, sticky and dripping and sweet. The jingle of the ice cream truck. Riding bicycles with no hands. Friends across the street and around the corner and up the block. Time to play and time to fill. Even time to argue and make up...to discover our strengths and weaknesses within the neighborhood hierarchy without a parent interjecting an adult solution and perspective. Sometimes there was a real honest to goodness vacation, maybe to the grandparent's house or a trip to the beach. But mostly summer was marked in days and hours and often even in minutes.

In our grown up-ness we lose a little bit of our childhood selves. Summertime in childhood was a season whose arrival we anticipated, whose days we savored, and whose ending we mourned. But we grow older and life naturally becomes more about schedule and routine, obligation and responsibility. More clutter, less space. Summer is still there but we no longer view it thru the rose colored spectacles of childhood.

Maybe we should.

Maybe every now and then we need to chuck the calendar and sit on the curb with a sticky sweet Popsicle. Slow down the ticking of time...imagine and daydream and say hello again to the kid we once were.


'Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you."

Today's post is part of this week's one word blog carnival...visit Bridget to read more posts on 'summer'

22 comments:

  1. I agree. Let's all stop and smell the roses!! :))

    Very sweet post.

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  2. Love it-made me remember my summers as a kid. Now when I think of kids running through sprinklers I think of all the grass that might get tracked into the house and all the towels to wash! ha! I am old.

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  3. My husband's craziest travel comes every single year in June, July, and August. I'm thinking about moving summer to December, January, and February.

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  4. And looking for blackberries in the woods. Organizing huge expeditions of neighborhood kids to do fun and useless stuff. Trying not to look too bad when we played sandlot baseball. Gravitating to all the things your parents wanted you to avoid. Great post.

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  5. This post is fabulous! I had a mini-slide show playing as your words brought back mind pictures of those precious times. I'll be heading out on my motorcycle tomorrow with one of my best buds. I pray we encounter that same leisure joy on our travels. Blessings, SusanD

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  6. I love it...so many of my memories started running through my head as I read yours. I miss those lazy days of summer when I was a child, completely unaware of anything but what I was doing outside. Love it!

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  7. Playing "Capture the Flag"...

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  8. I'm ready to join you on the curb. I'll bring my own popsicle!

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  9. Yes slow down, life is so short take time for the really important things in life. Hugs

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  10. So true. I think sometimes we try to give our kids "what we never had" and we end up denying them of what we DID have. Sometimes that seems more important to pass. Great post. Thanks!

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  11. Times were slower. Popsicles tasted better. Barefeet at the end of Summer could walk on gravel.

    Sitting on the porch swing with Grandma waving at folks we knew who drove by. You can go home again. The gift of memories. Thank you for sharing yours.

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  12. I so agree about summer as a kid. It was the best. I think in many ways, it is not the same for "this generation." Many of my friends have their kids scheduled for this camp or that camp ALL summer long. My kids don't go to any camps. we do library time, pool time, or just what ever strikes us that day. I want them to just enjoy this while they can.

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  13. Oh, my! Wonderful post, Joyce! You put in things that I totally forgot to put in mine! So happy to read about them. Loved it! Blessings to you!

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  14. You've brought back so many memories. I hope my children have good summer memories. Times do change.

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  15. Yes, how we all meet at the curb and have a popsicle and kick off our shoes...if we're wearing any....wiggle our toes, lean back and just relax. Talk if we feel like it. *sigh* Oh, those crazy, lazy, hazy days of summer.....

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  16. I love your description of a summer day!! Seriously. And this... "Summer wasn't organized, scheduled, or structured"... Sounds like our homeschool day sometimes... but we manage to get it done. Ha!

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  17. One of the best posts you've written. I agree with you.

    I'm off to find a popsicle.

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  18. Oh yes, the days when the ice cream man was exciting, not terrifying! Great post. Thanks for these memories.

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  19. Yes, I long for the care free days of child hood! Life is so fast-paced now that we must take time to sit on the curb and eat our Popsicles!

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  20. More clutter, less space. Yes! Wonderful post.

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  21. Funny that we were just talking about that! We gave up trying to take a traditional week long summer vacation this year (which we now regret and are now looking forward to planning next year's.... NOW). Somehow, this age of technology, and busyness is overwhelming. Working to take that back!

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  22. Oh, I loved, "Running barefoot thru the sprinkler then spreading your towel on the hot pavement to warm up." Thanks for the sweet memories when life was more simple, even if it's only in a great post :)!

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