Dear Friends,
Summer is fast approaching and school sessions will come to an end. It has been a long time since I counted down the days to summer vacation, looking forward to a summer of fun, fishing, camping, riding my bike, playing ball, cold soda and ice cream, and reading. Towards the end of the school year students were given a small catalog of books we could buy for twenty-five cents to a dollar, joke books, mystery, comedy, detective, sports, I loved reading and I have passed that on to my sons. I read to them before bed and when they were sick, birthdays, holidays, any reason I would buy them books.
We also played checkers and chess, and cards. Music was played at home, in the car, and I would sing to them in the evening. We played ball in the yard, for my youngest son’s first birthday we had pony rides in the yard, we went to amusement parks, camping, fishing, rafting on the river, and we went for hot dogs and ice cream. Summers were a time for fun, but they were also a time for experiencing life, learning about nature, experiencing living with nature. We had pets, dogs and cats, and we rescued and raised a squirrel, two raccoons, and more than a few birds. When our female cat had kittens and was hit by a car we bottle fed the kittens every two hours. Yes, summer was a time for fun it was also a time for learning life’s lessons. It was a time for sitting on the porch at night, looking at the stars and talking, asking questions and getting answers, bonding, I don’t remember the word “texting” ever being used.