“It was June, and the
world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy
hillside”
~Maud Hart Lovelace
I love this quote by
Lovelace. She was a children's book author who grew up in my home town nearly a
century before I was born and wrote of young girls finding adventure and
mischief in Deep Valley, a fictional name for our home town of Mankato. I would
imagine, despite a century of change, the advent of summer for her was just as
lovely and promising as it was for me as a girl in that river city of verdant
hills and valleys.
Poets and authors have
long praised summer's splendor, the long days of warmth, flowers in full bloom,
the busy-ness of Earth as crops grow, animals move about in a productive
scurry, and humankind springs to life with an ardent need to enjoy the outdoors
before winter returns with its cold temperatures and abbreviated daylight.
We live in a part of the
world where, even if you don't long for hot weather and sunshine, a moderate
dose of the stuff can rejuvenate and lift the spirits. And for summer lovers,
these short months are reason to celebrate and grasp every opportunity to revel
in the outdoors.
Summer always stirs up
memories of my childhood. Picking bowls full of delectable red and blue berries
whose colors invoke a particularly patriotic tug on my heartstrings. The gentle
sways and rolls of the lake's motion while sitting in my dad's fishing boat.
Nighttime at the farm when the crickets would chirp in a full chorus at
bedtime.
As kids, summertime was
the season when we could check our inhibitions at the screen door and dart
outside in bare feet, not stopping to tug on rubber boots or unending layers of
snow gear. Dripping popsicles didn't matter on the front lawn and the sprinkler
offered a full afternoon of fun with very little cost. When Grandpa was feeling
mischievous, nighttime would mean the celebratory glow of sparklers shooting
their light in swirls and swoops as we chased around the lawn in a jubilant
ruckus.
Summer's most blessed
events for me now include my mom's fresh-squeezed lemonade, a trusty porch
swing surrounded by vibrant and heavenly-smelling flower gardens, and a real
page-turner of a book. As I relax and take in the pleasant peacefulness, the
kids are learning and experiencing the fun and freedom that summer holds.
Watching a 5-year-old excitedly chase fireflies in the darkening evening while
his older sister races to the house for a Mason jar calls to mind my own
memories of summer nights and the magic of the world. What childhood would be
complete without sailing out across cool lake water on a tire swing? And my
husband and I have now passed on the early entrepreneurial torch of setting up
lemonade stands to our kids. I'm sure my mom is chuckling inside, now that "what
goes around comes around" has found me
with the sticky floors and spilled sugar on my countertops. But, alas, this is
summer, kids will be kids, and floors and counters are washable.
Picnics, bike rides,
watermelon on the front steps – whatever your summer favorites might be, enjoy
them! Summer is short and should be savored and experienced to the utmost!
And should the kids ask
you to join them running through the sprinkler, do accept. That kid way down
deep inside will still appreciate the thrill of racing through that cold
swaying spray on a hot summer day.
