Thursday, July 19, 2012

I Remember....



Ever since I've been a Mom I've wondered what childhood memories my children will have. What things, big or small, will they carry with them and hopefully remember fondly? That may seem strange, I know, but of course it comes from hoping that my children have many enjoyable moments as they grow, with tons of wonderful memories to come from those moments. It also comes from the fact that I have so many wonderful childhood memories myself. I love it when something from my childhood pops into my head! Now that it's summer, I've been thinking about my summers as a kid.

I remember....
  1. Stepping out the back door on the first day of summer vacation and feeling like I had e n d l e s s  days of summer ahead of me. 
  2. Going to the lake after dinner with a bar of soap.  We swam and had fun, and had the "bath" at the same time. (we had never even heard of environmental issues at that time!)
  3. Climbing on the large wooden beams in my Dad's barn - high over the hay bales (and the hard wooden floor).
  4. Losing my little sister when we were supposed to be paying attention as we all played. She wandered off into a corn field, fell asleep, and had, it seemed, the entire town, and surrounding towns, at our house for hours searching for her.
  5. My dogs. We were real original with our pet names. Whitey, Blacky, Brownie (no, I'm not kidding). Although we did have a Teddy and a Laddie too.
  6. Catching lighting bugs in an empty mayo jar, with holes poked in the top, only to find them all dead the next morning.
  7. Laying in a lawn chair at night, looking up at the star filled sky and watching shooting stars.
  8. All five of us kids piling into the family station wagon, no seat belts, fighting over who got a window seat, to go get ice cream cones.
  9. Playing with my Barbie camper by the creek across the road from our house.
  10. Watching my Dad march in all of the surrounding towns Fireman's Parades.
  11. Singing into a hair brush and pretending I was Donna Summer, or The Bee Gees.
  12. Walking barefoot down the creek, over rocks and slippery slate, stopping to look at the tadpoles, on our way to spend the afternoon swimming in the gorge.
  13. Running over my little sister (yes, the one we had previously lost!) as she lay in the grass because I was riding my brothers bike that was too big for me, and I couldn't steer it or pedal it correctly! (She still won't let me live that one down!).
  14. Trying to catch grasshoppers in a field of weeds.
  15. Listening to the tar bubbles on the road pop as we rode in the back seat with our car windows down.
  16. Being bare foot a l l the time.
  17. Sweet corn on the cob at the picnic table, with lots of butter.
  18. Badminton games over the clothes line.
  19. Traveling cross country, with my parents and my four brothers and sisters. One station wagon, seven people. No air conditioning. No electronic games. And we still had fun! Singing to the radio. Searching for different license plates on the cars that passed by. Sitting on a cement picnic table, at a rest stop in the Painted Desert (ouch), trying to eat our sandwiches that Mom made before they became totally dehydrated from the dry air! (Well, ok, maybe that part wasn't fun!)
  20. Sitting around the neighbors campfire, roasting marshmallows, and talking into the night.
I hope that this has made you think of some fond memories from your childhood. I'd love to hear about them! Leave me a comment and let me know what they are. And don't forget to post your water pictures in our flickr group as our water theme continues. Label them "water" to be considered for our INFOCUS selections this month. Oh, and we have exciting news! Focusing on Life now has its own button! Go to the sidebar on the right, copy the code, and paste it in your own blog!  Happy Summer! 


14 comments:

Dotti said...

Oh, Judy! What a fun post! And yes it did ignite some wonderful summer and childhood memories in general that I'll be thinking about all day.

Thank you!!!!

:-D

AFishGirl said...

Such a great post. As Dotti said, it will be with me all day. Memory fascinates me. You really evoke a wonderful childhood, it makes my heart so glad, extremely glad. I love hearing people's stories. You made me think, for sure. What I realize is that I've never liked summer. I mean, I suspected as much but I read your post and tried to come up with a list of 10 good summer memories. No go. Nope. I love autumn. I also am a big fan of winter and spring. I can get the lists from there but summer, nope. I got sunburned. Home life was worse than usual because I did not have school to escape to. Not vying for the sympathy vote and do not at all want to make anyone sad. I'm a happy grownup now. But still, summer? I just can't get into it. This post made me feel kinder towards myself. I always thought, "C'mon, LIKE it, Pam, do it, try harder. Get a better bbq. Anything." Now I think to myself, well no wonder I don't like it. Lightbulb moment. Thanks! And an aside, my kids had good summers. We camped and I really went out of my way to give them good summer memories. Having said that, I am sure they'd both tell you fall is their favourite time of year. Lol. Must be genetic. Okay, off for some tea. I have the best tea in the world right now.

Affectionately,
Pam

heyjudephotography said...

Pam, what's really funny, is that Fall is my favorite season too! I do have GREAT memories of summers, but fall is the best. Lot's of people look at me funny when I say that fall is my favorite season. I even chose to be married in the fall. So, even though you didn't and don't like summers, I hope that this post has made you remember some great fall memories that you have! Enjoy your tea!

Deanna said...

What a fun, fun post. I can certainly relate to a lot of your favorites, barefoot all summer, catching fireflies, vacations on the road without airconditioning and electronics, swimming & bathing in the lake, but it was Sandra Dee for me, not Donna Summer...ahh fondness, I did have great summers and hope my kids have fond memories as well.

terriporter said...

Oh, yes, your list brought back a lot of memories for me too about childhood summers. When my kids were growing up, I always hoped they would remember a lot of great things from their childhoods when they grew up. We spent a week or two every summer on the beach in San Diego for 17 years in a row and it was a hardship at times to afford it but it was something we wanted to do for our kids. And returning there with adult children a few years ago, I basked in the glow of hearing them talk to each other and saying, "Remember the time we . . ." Yes, they remembered and it made all the sacrifices to be able to take that family vacation every year so worthwhile. I hope they will do the same for their children someday. Thanks, Judy, for a wonderful post!

Linda said...

Well, I am a summer loving girl! Heat and all! I have many of the same memories of summertime! Barefeet, fireflys, swimming and days and days of fun!
Summer is the time of year when we don't keep schedules. Unless it's a trip to the beach!
Thanks for the wonderful memories! I hope I'm still making some!

xo,
Linda

Carol said...

Definitely fall for me too. but I wanted to pop in and say that of course your children have great summers Pam, because obviously they have a great Mom!

Carol said...

I too loved this post when I read it this morning. but I wanted to tell you my overwhelming feeling on reading it was......aren't we all so lucky! How fortunate that we were able to play and run free and eat well, etc. Most of the world, and many many here don't have the privilege.
Thank your stars girls for the luck of the draw you got with your place in this world!

didn't stop thinking about. Climbing my favorite apple tree all day....Sigh.....

Kim Stevens said...

Yep, I'm with Linda, summer girl all the way (although I do love the Spring intro a bunch). This brought back tons of fun memories, like the days we would go out all day, come home for lunch, go back out, home for dinner, and back out until dark when we played red light, green light, kick the can, and of course the lightning bug catches. We had a creek in our back yard and I remember catching crawdads....I was a nature nerd then too! : )

heyjudephotography said...

Yes - what Carol said! :) Great Mom = great memories. And now great grandmomma too!

heyjudephotography said...

Oh, what a great feeling that must have been to hear your family talking about their vacations as kids. :) Just what I'm hoping for with mine.

heyjudephotography said...

You're so right Carol. We are so fortunate. :)

heyjudephotography said...

I'm so glad Dotti. Hope you had a smile on your face all day reminiscing.

stephmull said...

I have to admit, I'm not much of a summer girl....more of a fall and spring girl. But I loved your post because I could relate to so many of the memories you shared (although, I didn't run my sister over with a bike! :-) ). I, too, hope that my kids have great memories of their childhood once they are all grown up!

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