Youthful Summer Days
I’m sure that we all can remember those days of summer after school was over and the freedom to go outside, run and play, or to ride a bike and swim. It was a time of enjoyment that wasn’t limited because the sun was hot or the air still, sultry, and humid. Socks and shoes were optional. Tincture of Merthiolate or merchorochrome was applied to scrapes and cuts after being washed with soap. Shirts were only worn as an afterthought and sunscreen was unheard of back then. Mom would dab on apple cider vinegar to cool the sunburned skin when we chose not to wear a shirt.
Rainy days provided mud and puddles to play in and would often earn Mom’s anger when we brought the outside indoors. We had play clothes which were actually good clothes that were getting too small or were nearly worn out.
As kids, summer seemed to stretch on forever. Endless days of sunshine that slowly flowed by until the days of school and being imprisoned inside for another entire schoool term approached. The educational walls claimed so much of each day. It allowed so little respite because of tasks assigned by the teacher. It was called homework. The only reprieve from the homework came when Mom called for supper or when the weekdays finally ecame the weekend and a short window of escape arrived. Softballs and bats were exchanged for footballs. The fields that were once makeshift baseball diamonds become the football gridirons.
Autumn turns to winter and the footballs are stored. Heavy coats, boots, mittens, and scarves are resurrected. Sometimes larger sizes were purchased. It was necessary because our bodies had grown from the year before. Sleds, toboggans, skates, and skis are dragged from basements, sheds, and garages, dusted, and put to use. Ice, snow, and blustery wind do little to deter the escape from the confines of the house. Snow days become a temporary pardon from the weekday prison of school.
Now those summer days fly by all too quickly and we complain about the heat, the rain, or the cold. Ah, to have the heart of a child again.