Thinking of Summer

81 degrees today. Kids on skateboards zooming by. Teen girls in pretty sundresses and sandals stopping by the store. Not all of the local schools are out for summer. This is in front of the local middle school this morning on my way to the store.

Remember how antsy we all were the last week of school? Not much of value happened. There was a joyful feeling of impending freedom mixed with the sad realization that we would not see many of our school friends during the summer. The days stretched endlessly out in front of us and then it was over before we wanted. My friends and I spent our California middle school ("junior high" in those days) summer days at McCambridge Park. There was a public pool, dances on Wednesday afternoons, gym activities or just sitting on the grass in groups. Across the street was the Cornell theater, cool and dark in those unair-conditioned days. We walked downtown and got an ice cream at the drug store. We spent time at the library. We took turns going to each others homes to sit in the yard and talk or play cards or swim. One girlfriend had a shuffle ball court in her yard. Many of those memories include John. Sometimes our family would drive from Burbank CA to Rochester NY to see my grandparents and aunts and uncles. We would be treated to the North East summers, hot and humid. Our young cousins would ask us if we knew any cowboys or if we had horses at our "ranch house". The memories are sweet and probably a bit rose-colored. What kind of memories do you have?

Coming up on Saturday June 16...Barbe Saint John teaching "Industrial Geek Necklace" and our Steam Punk Social. You really need to join us. Stop by and check out what is new at the store, too.

Comments

[Mary M.]

My childhood summer memories are of swimming at the pool every day. The mayor of our town lived up the street from us and he built a huge pool across from his house. He let anyone on his street use it for free.
Love the rusty old clocks and really love the 'journals'? with the ladies on the covers. They look handmade.

[Mary M.]

My childhood summer memories are of swimming at the pool every day. The mayor of our town lived up the street from us and he built a huge pool across from his house. He let anyone on his street use it for free.
Love the rusty old clocks and really love the 'journals'? with the ladies on the covers. They look handmade.

[tracey]

I can't express how oddly thrilled I was to see so so so so many bikes in front of the school in that top photo.
So many levels of awesome, that kids still bike, that it's obviously a popular mode of transportation for those middle schoolers there, that there;s so many and kind of gives me the feeling it must be pretty safe there, that bikes can't be getting stolen too much or else they wouldn't have so many...I dunno. It's a happy photo.
I did a lot of biking in the summer when I was a youngin :D
We lived in a very rural area and unless we wanted to walk to the rive which took what felt like for agggggggggggggggggggges in hot, muggy summer heat, then we'd fly. Huh..that's a funny slip of the fingers, I meant to type "bike" but typed "fly" instead, cause that's what it felt like to bike from our house.
We had a long steep, gravel driveway and when you went down it on bike it was probably dangerous but you'd pick up speed, burst out in to the road area and then it was a gentle downhill for the most of the way to the river.
(Made going back home very hot, work, uphill...ack...lets not remember that bit, just the down hill bike flying.)
Good thing to know, when you live in a rural area and are biking down a sloped road at top speeds, probably at least 2 or 3 hundred km per hour (hahahaha) you can sing as loud as ya like cause...well...no one but trees and empty road to hear..er..and maybe some slightly harassed younger brothers, hahahahahaha