By Carol Fisher-Linn
What memories do the sensations of summer spark in you?
In Western New York, we don’t let the calendar dictate our seasons. Remembering a year when we had snow on Mother’s Day and another when folks skied and golfed on the same day, Memorial Day is close enough to start thinking “summer.”
the season that reintroduces us to our inner child. Go on. Open
yourself to the magic of summer and revisit simpler fun ways
to entertain yourselves and your families. Hopscotch, anyone?
Despite the tumultuous holiday weather, our part of the world had plenty of sunshine and shorts-and-t-shirt weather this past week. With the onset of the season of carefree outdoor fun like biking, hiking, sailing, swimming, fishing, and cookouts, I was suddenly nudged with sweet nostalgic memories of days gone by. (Summer does that to you.) The summer-like air reminded me of childhood trips to Crystal Beach on the luxurious Canadiana boat which, likely, not many of you would remember because the last trip to Canada was in 1956. Some things I remember about the boat were the elegant Victorian décor and the massive ballroom. The website Exhibits.library.brocku.ca informs us that the entertainers included Cab Calloway, Woody Herman, and Duke Ellington. I was too young to be impressed but we sure did have great fun dancing our way across Lake Erie to another ballroom at the park. Hey, a young girl’s gotta jitterbug!
As I type that part of the story, I feel myself slipping out of my well-seasoned body and into the nimble one of that pre-teen dancing on the polished wooden deck of the Canadiana. In that moment, I recapture her carefree enthusiasm, her unrestrained delight in the moment – never mind the future or the cares of the day – and I smile. For a moment I slip through time – I am 13 again and having the time of my life. As I grew older, friends and I made summer trips to Sherkston Quarry in Canada. The water was/is spring-fed and icy cold. Of course, we thought it was bottomless but, truth be told, it was an old mining quarry (closed in 1917) where today, divers go the 50’ to the bottom to view the old rail cars and miles of rails. Thinking back, I realize that the fun-loving, adventuresome young girl is still there, and the reminiscing helps me recapture a dream or two.
So, how about you? What youthful memories do your hold close to your heart? Anything you have brought into adulthood, or might like to do again? I did a very informal text poll asking what memories folks treasure from their childhood summers. My country-raised husband’s summer stories are quite different form this city girl’s. They did the usual swimming and fishing and catching frogs for frog leg dinners in the family pond. He chuckled when he told how his mother hated to pan fry them because, being freshly “harvested” the legs still twitched when tossed into the sizzling hot pan. As a wee child, he loved “camping” on the screened-in porch, but later, the neighborhood pre-teens would gather supplies for a few days, grab a tractor and head for the river to camp. Of course, he has fond memories of cooking hot dogs and marshmallows on sticks, but the adventures really began when the campfire began to die down and they tossed soccer-ball sized river rocks into the fire. As he tells it, when they started to whistle it was time for their early version of “truth or dare.” Who would be the last one to run before the rock burst into smithereens. He claims it was a rite of passage where inklings of common sense finally nudged them toward maturity. My guess is that you have a story to match that from your youth!
Almost everyone said they have fond memories of jumping on their bikes and riding for hours on end, sometimes literally from one town to another to meet a friend for more riding, going adventuring, fishing or swimming at The Valley. Today, some say they would no longer ride because the roads are crazy unsafe with distracted drivers, while others still find a way to rekindle their childhood joys. Thankfully, this area offers plenty of biking trails to enjoy. Hot, sticky, “I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom,” “[s]he’s-on-my-side,” car trips (picture the Griswold’s Family Vacation) surely open a host of funny memories for many of you. At home, when it got cooler after supper (we didn’t call it dinner back then), I would strap on my adjustable roller skates and tighten them to the edge of the soles of my saddle shoes, using the key that was always on a string around my neck. My friends and I would be gone all evening until the streetlights came on. No cell phones, knee or elbow pads for this crowd.
Many who responded spoke of sitting around campfires making s’mores (or toasting marshmallows in the old days), catching fireflies in a mason jar with holes punched in the tops, wading in creeks catching crayfish, turtles, tadpoles, and frogs, sometimes ending up with a twisted or broken ankle. We played hide-and-seek, hopscotch, street hockey and baseball in the streets, had sleepovers and camped in our backyards, swam at the community pools, and played for hours at local playgrounds or near our front door. Surprisingly, trips to the ER were extremely rare. Suzie Ditcher aptly summed it up nicely: “Getting dirty, walking in nature, beathing fresh air.”
See? There is still a little bit of that young’un in each of us. Summer is the season that reintroduces us to our inner child. Go on. Open yourself to the magic of summer and revisit simpler fun ways to entertain yourselves and your families. Hopscotch, anyone?