While out in the yard with Sadie today I started to think about summer. What does it look like, taste like, feel like? From time to time something will happen that reminds us of a time years ago, perhaps when we were children. It makes us think of a certain time and/or place. Today I was reminded of summer.
As I stood in the shade on a hot August day I felt the coolness of the shade versus the heat of the sun. My feet felt the cooler grass in the shade. I was glad to have pinned up my hair before we went out into the heat. A slight breeze came through the trees and I could feel it on the back of my neck like a cool breath. This made me think of what summer feels like and what I remember from my childhood -- being outside in the heat, running around barefoot, stopping in the shade to cool off and hope for a breeze.
Then I thought what does summer taste like? Watermelon comes to mind first. I know you can find it in the grocery store year round now -- but it will always be summer to me. I am not a big ice cream fan -- but ice cream -- or should I say Carl's -- will always be summer to me. (the only photo I have of Carl's was taken in the winter) It was featured on one of those quirkly little shows on ice cream. I also remember going to High's with my mother when I was little getting a cone of coffee ice cream -- yum -- or picking up the birthday party punch -- sherbert in ginger ale? How about crossing the road holding my grandmother's hand to get to Heflin's store to get one of those little cups of ice cream and the wooden spoon and sticking your hand into the icy water in the cooler to get a cold Coke and open it with the opener attached to the front of the cooler, looking down and seeing my dirty feet that had been running through the yard and garden all day. That is summer (and an incredible runon sentence). Watch out for the yellow jackets and honey bees.
Carl's is iconic in my hometown.
Lemonade was another taste that quickly came to mind. And I thought of pickles -- my grandmother was always canning pickles. Lately I have had serious issues with eating way too many baby dills at one time -- I love them!
After that -- I think of the photos I take and do any of them look like summer? What does summer look like? Meaning what does it look like without being trite about it. That may be my personal challenge for the next few weeks of summer that we have left.
I created this little collage in Photoshop Elements in a matter of a few minutes -- what took so long was deciding on which photos to use.
1 comment:
I enjoyed reading about your memories of summer when you were little. Trying hard to remember – I remember my mother sitting on a bench sewing while I would place my feet in the fountain below the Sacre Coeur de Montmartre in Paris, near where we lived. Or she would take me to the Tuileries, near the Louvre and I would run on my skates. We would also rent a flat in Normandy near a beach for 3 weeks or so, but very often it rained and it was cold. We all have our memories, different but dear to us.
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