When that summer sunshine hits my face, and that warm air blows, random memories flood my soul of sweet summers past. It really doesn’t matter if I am on a walk on a farm path; sitting by an open window with the breeze blowing in; driving in my car with the windows down and the sunroof open, perhaps singing to the top of my lungs, and the wind blowing my hair (sometimes) wild; or in the pool chair relaxing in the water, those summers past are ingrained in my soul and surface each year…
Grandma ‘Cory’ sitting on her front porch swing stringing green beans…
Finding clams in the creek with my aunt, Lisa, at Grandma and Grandpa Allen’s farm…or vague memories of swimming in the the pond…
Wading barefoot in water on the road from a heavy rain…
Playing in the creek with my cousin, Karen, while the others worked in the tobacco field nearby. Karen and I would “scatter sticks” (laying a tobacco stick on each cut stalk so that someone else could come behind and “spud”— my mom’s favorite job), which left us time to play while the others did the “dirty work.” Karen’s sister, Kim, later told us that great spot we found (likely) had cow manure in it!!…
Eating corn on the cob at every chance….and at my aunt, Betty’s, house…my, how I loved that! And just playing outside at their house…I can’t even put an exact description on it…
Riding in the back of the truck…sometimes after church to go home with my cousin, Teresa, (Betty’s daughter)…sometimes even standing up! At least one year around Memorial Day, we loaded up in the back of the truck, and went to different graveyards to put flowers on the graves of relatives. It may sound silly, but it was great fun!…
Eating watermelon with family…
Mom working in the garden…and earlier on, she sometimes made me pick green beans (not so fun!)…it was easier when the season was almost over and she let me pull the whole stalk up and pick them off the vine…
Swimming in the Ohio River…some places, like below the Gallipolis Locks and Dam, you couldn’t go very far out without there being a drop-off; and others, you could go out so far that it felt like you were half-way out in the river, and still hit your knees on the bottom…
Swimming…in the lake at Krodel Park…
Going to Rock Lake Pool…an old rock quarry turned swimming pool…I didn’t realize to the full extent the history behind the pool at the time. (I will include a link below.)…
Beach vacations almost every year from the time I was around four or five years old up until I got married. Some years, my cousins came; sometimes, Mom’s baby sister, Lisa; one year, my grandma. So many memories from those trips…let me elaborate on a few…
Lisa got stung by a jelly fish, and I laughed at her until I got stung…then it wasn’t so funny! I put sand on it, but, wow! Those things can pack a punch! I used to ride a raft in the ocean…riding the waves like I was on a galloping horse, holding the reigns. Other times, we would just ride the waves in…knocking someone over at least once or twice. Mom swam so far out in the ocean one year that the lifeguard blew the whistle for her to come back! One year, Kim saw a boy jump in the pool from the diving board after seemingly debating it, and then struggling…together, we drew him to safety. The same year, Kim and Karen advised me not to send a postcard to my boyfriend and break up with him because I had my eye on a “beach boy.” Well, I did it anyway…and yes, I regretted it later. Oh well, sixth grade romances don’t always last forever! One year, I vaguely remember this, but we laughed our heads off when we went out to eat. We played miniature golf and picked up seashells. We went the Fun Plaza and played games galore and ate hot dogs while the sea breeze blew through the large open doors. My favorite was baseball…old machines lining the wall that looked like pinball machines, but they were baseball games. You needed 26 runs (if I remember correctly) to win a prize. We went to the multi-floor Gay Dolphin gift shop and beach stores shopping for souvenirs year after year. We went to wax museums and The Pavilion amusement park that has been long gone. We walked on the boardwalk and near the place where Alabama started their career…
The smell of Mom canning tomato juice…oh, dear me, how I loved that! …and not just the smell—to this day, I still love the taste!…
Thunderstorms…Mom loved them…
Riding my little Honda 50 into my teenage years…who knows how many miles I put on that thing!…riding through the paths that my mom and dad cut through the woods. I could go to my cousin, Lorinda’s, house a couple different ways…but always through the woods. When I would think of a possible bear siting, I would go a little faster. I’d ride it around the road to Karen and Kim’s. Karen would ride with me sometimes…brave soul. One day, we were coming back from her house when I spotted Mom in the garden, which was across the road from our house. The turn into that area came before the one to the house. At the last minute, I decided to turn in—quickly! And turned we did—over! I wrecked us!! My head hit the dirt, and the handlebar scraped my stomach. I don’t even know if Karen was hurt! Mom was asking if I (we) were ok, and while I was trying to figure out if I was or not, she asked again…a little snappy! It must have scared her. Well, if my kids did even half of the things that I remember doing as a kid, I probably wouldn’t have lived to tell these stories!…
Swinging on the rope swings that my cousin, Jeff, and his cousin, Timmy, hung on, I don’t know how many, trees around their property. The most daring one I remember was beside the church. Karen and I, and my neighbor, Bobbi, would pull that rope up the hill as far as we could and still be able to jump on the knot and swing out over that hill and the creek below! Well, one day Bobbi must have missed the knot, I guess…she went tumbling and rolled into the creek. She must have been ok, because I don’t recall any injuries…
Playing “Knock Out and Catch”…I can’t say 100% that this was summer time, but the weather had to be nice enough…one person would bat the ball on their own while all the rest were in the “field”…actually it was literally a field sometimes in front of Karen, Kim, and Jeff’s farmhouse on the hill. If you caught one fly ball, or got three ground balls, you got to go up to bat…that was it. Pure fun…
Walking to church…
Bible School (VBS)…
Laying out in the backyard trying to get a suntan and listening to the radio…
Playing badminton…
Practicing getting baptized in the three-foot swimming pool…we had to practice because Kim thought they held you under while they sang a song—or a verse of a song…either way, it’s no wonder we didn’t rush into getting baptized…we had to make sure we could hold our breath long enough!! We did eventually get baptized. That day in the Ohio River, there was a large group of teenagers. I was only around nine years old, but let me tell you that was an important step in my walk with Christ. I had received Him as my Savior a while before that, but waited a bit to get baptized. I rode in the back of the truck that day, all the way up the river route to the station where my dad was working (He wasn’t in church yet at the time.), drying off, sitting on the tire well, wind blowing in my face…a peaceful memory…
That never gets old…the wind blowing in my face…whether I am swimming; sitting by an open window, listening to the birds; driving my car with the windows down past a corn field, or a field of fresh cut hay; that warm wind in my face floods me with a warmth that causes memories to be relished…
In thinking back, I realize just how blessed my childhood was. It wasn’t perfect…even if it sounds perfect. But, I do recognize that it was mine, and God placed me there. The sum total of those memories along with many others have helped mold who I am today. I drive past a yard and the smell of fresh cut grass, and I want to eat watermelon again. If I haven’t been to the beach in a while, I crave it. So as I reminisce, I thank my gracious God for the summers I’ve seen and felt. But it isn’t meant for me to live there but to use it all to press forward…
“The past is an important part of today’s actions and tomorrow’s plans.”(1)
Embrace and appreciate every day…celebrate and cherish it…thank God for it…it is a gift.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.8.28.KJV
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.118.24.ESV
(1) Life Application Study Bible; New Living Translation; Tyndall House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois; “Hezekiah.” Pg. 611.
Simply Celebrate With Jackie 