Thursday, July 17, 2008

Simple Everyday Summertime Activities


What kind of summer activities do you remember? When you were a child, did you go on picnics? What kind of food did you eat? I remember a picnic lunch where our mother made sandwiches and eggnog for my brother and I, and we sat on cinder blocks under the apple tree in the backyard to eat our lunch.

Did you go to a park or a playground to play? I lived on a farm growing up, and we didn't have a park in our town. But when raising my children, we've always lived close to a park or a playground?

Did you lay on your back and watch the clouds go by? We didn't have much of a lawn for most of my childhood, so I didn't lay on my back; but I did like to watch the clouds go by and especially watch the sun rise and set.

Did you go swimming in a lake or a pool? I never learned how to swim. I went with others to a swimming pool twice. The second time I cut my toe and couldn't stand to have my toe in the water. I sat on the side of the pool and got sunburned. I didn't go to a swimming pool again.

Did you have air conditioning or even a fan? We never had air conditioning or even a fan when I was young. We had a basement which was much cooler in our house. We slept there until I was about ten years old. My dad built onto our house and we moved our bedrooms upstairs. For two to three weeks in the summer it would be uncomfortable sleeping. We opened windows and doors for cross ventilation and hoped a breeze would be blowing. I still remember as a teenager the first time some one brought a fan to our Sunday evening meeting at the church. It was so nice to sit where the fan could blow on you.

Simple everyday things add a great deal to your story of your life. Since your children and grandchildren have a different experience in life, it is important to record even the simple things that happened in your life, even whether you had air conditioning or not.






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