This is the place for summer songs, summer movies, summer vacations, summer school, summer jobs, love summer, hate summer…all of that stuff. So slap on some sunscreen, put on your shades and join in!
I’ll start off with a couple of things:
When I was 14 my family took a summer road trip across the west. When we were on the road I adopted the habit of flashing the peace sign out the window to anyone who happened to look my way, especially girls. It was a thrill when they noticed and returned the sign with a smile. I’m not sure what my parents thought, but they didn’t say anything.
I kind of hate The Boys of Summer because it came out when my girlfriend broke up with me. She looked just like the brunette model in the video (sigh).
Since I grew up on a farm, summer meant more work. Vacations? Who had time for vacations? The closest we came after I was 5 or so was when we visited our North Carolina relations.
I’m glad we’ve been able to give our kids beach vacations. My wife didn’t get them either, but that was because her parents didn’t like the beach.
I now live just outside Sarasota FL. Summer is when the snowbirds have stopped clogging up the restaurants and the tourist have begun to clog up the beaches.
In June of 1977, I was 15 and had just finished my first year of high school. My dad decided to take us all on a family vacation trip from Minnesota to California. We stopped for all of the sites along the way. I remember how upset I was to be missing out on all of the summer high school parties. I had just started dating the boy who would later become my husband so that was crummy too. But thinking back now, I am so glad we went. It was a great trip that my sisters and I still talk about.
Summer always brings back memories of the family cabin. My paternal grandpa built it in the early '50’s. We spent just about every weekend plus a two-week vacation there every summer from the time I was born until my dad died in 1993. Great memories!
Also memories of running around the neighborhood playing from morning until it got dark. Sometimes we’d be able to play flashlight tag when it got dark. Walking to the corner store when we could get 50 cents and buy a can of pop, an ice cream treat, penny candy, chips, etc. Riding our bikes. Playing at the creek all day.
Summer was always magical when I was a kid. I don’t remember a bad day!
I still love summer - just wish it would last longer.
As a kid, summer was the time for the beach. We’d spend every afternoon there with my mother. On weekends, we’d go out on the boat, fishing with my grandfather. When I got older, we got a Sunfish, so I did a lot of sailing.
Growing up in San Diego in the mid-60s, our summers were split between going to the beaches to boogie board and body surf, lizard hunting in the canyons and mesas that started right across the street, and going to the zoo and Balboa Park. Golden days indeed!
Summer is the season when everyone stinks. Also, the windows have to be open or else I’ll overheat, and things can get noisy outside.
(Damn me and my sensory issues. Heh.)
Though there are many things I like about summer too. Swimming, vacations, and being able to go outside without a jacket on.
Heading to OBX tomorrow for our annual two week vacation to the family home in Duck…my wife and I are from Baltimore, so we grew up as kids going to Oshun City, yeah, we’d go up to the oshun, hon, get out of Bawlmer and walk the board walk, get some candy corn, steamed crabs and Thrasher’s fries…
But, I digress, when I was in college, my parents found this particular neighborhood north of Duck where they would rent a house for the summer…I’d come down for the random long weekends and occasional week (I worked every summer since 10th grade, so time off was rare)…when we were married, we did part of our honeymoon (short cruise, then Duck) at the parent’s rental…
About 22 years ago, they bought a house in that neighborhood, and as part of that, gave each of the kids two weeks in the summer for their families…so our boys have grown up on that beach, we do the occasional Thanksgiving and Christmas there, even though two of our three sons are out of the house, it’s the one place we can plan on all getting together, even if they can only come for one week…
I love summer, we all love that house and that beach, it is our little piece of paradise, it’s the reason we bought a big old conversion van when we moved up to upstate NY so that we could make the long trip with the kids and not have to stop other than food, rest rooms and gas…thank you, Mom and Dad!