You Missed it....

A neighbor asked me to write a short paragraph about what I did to keep the kids busy and occupied during the summer months for a class she'll be teaching.
The kids were all here when she called, so I put it to them - piece of cake.
Had it done in a few minutes.

But it set me to reflecting on my own childhood summers...

I grew up "out in the boonies." Yep, I was a country gal.
We were kind of isolated from friends - oh, there were plenty, but not within walking distance. ...And from parks, swimming pools and the like.

It left us on our own to find our entertainment... But we managed.

Every couple of weeks, mom would take my sisters and I to the library, and we learned to love reading. We were often driven from the house by the sweltering heat (no AC) - so we would find a shady place outside where we could catch a cool breeze - the front porch, the tree house, or sometimes even just the old car in the driveway, and we would read our books and share little snippets and passages that made us laugh.

We had a little stream that ran around the house, and on those unbearably hot afternoons, mom always knew she could find us there - wading, making mud pies, smelling the wild roses, or just floating our Barbies down it. (Ha ha)

Nothing grand or amazing, but there are so many things that my children will never experience growing up in a TV and video game society -

*Hanging the clothes on the clothesline, and the smell of fresh sheets baked in the sun and whipped into submission by the wind.

*The wonder of finding a batch of newborn kittens in the haystack.

*The sensuous smell of home made bread - mom would often allow us a sacrificial loaf to tear apart and ravage - slathered with butter and honey that would melt and run down our arms to drip off our elbows.
(Sorry kids, I tried to learn to bake, but I've never been able to master bread.)

*Climbing trees. There were dozens of them all around our property - I had my favorites, but I made sure to tackle each and every one of them at least once.

*Feeding hands full of weeds to the horses and petting their soft warm noses
(but minding not to get too close, or they would nibble our hair!)

*Playing night games on the lawn, and sleeping out on the big front porch, watching the shadows dance as the cars drove by... and sometimes dancing with them.

*Just roaming - up and down the hills, around the creek - discovering treasures such as sego lilies, trilobites, ...and green apples!

We were poor as church mice back then - but we never knew it.

Life was rich.
.