Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Oregon Summers

Yesterday while three of the nieces and nephews were playing various made-up games in the blow-up pool in our backyard, I got to thinking about how great summers were when I was a kid. We had a few favorite methods for beating the heat in Mississippi. When we got our first VCR, my sister and I would do the same thing nearly every day while my parents were at work: we'd turn the air conditioners up full-blast, lock the doors to the house, and one of us would walk to the video store for Ghostbusters, Real Genius, or Poltergeist while the other would trudge up the hill to the convenience store for Doritos and Lemon-heads. By the time we'd meet back at home, we'd be drenched in sweat, so we'd take a few minutes to lay flat on the orange shag carpet and cool off in the frigid air. Then we'd eat tuna casserole made from boxed macaroni-n-cheese and canned green peas before digging into the junk-food and movies. It's no wonder I was such a pudgy kid, and my sister and I might be solely responsible for the current climate crisis with the amount we ran the AC.

My sister came to visit last week, and it was fun to do some summer hanging-out again with her, though this time in cooler Oregon.

We found a lake in view of Mt. Hood where my sister jumped right in.

When we got home from our trip up to Mt. Hood, we discovered that Mr. Ed, my father-in-law, had been sitting on our front porch for a couple of hours reading/napping. We asked why he didn't just go in the house since he's the one who gave us the lock-box with a key, and he said that he just liked it on the front porch. That's another great thing about Oregon summers: front porch sitting. When we started looking at houses up here, we passed right over any house that didn't have a hefty front porch. They're such social things, so healthy for a neighborhood.

So my sister and niece ended their day in the hot-tub, listening to whatever pearl of wisdom Mr. Ed was passing on.

So along with AC and tuna casserole, front porches, lakes, lemon-ade stands, and visits from Ed, a few other timeless things I love about summer are:

Fuzzy baby ducks.

Farmers market crepes.


Cold drinks and swimming pools.


Pop-ice.


Picking ripe berries.


Water-gun fights.


Naps.
I hope that your summer is as slumbersome and fun as ours. What were/are some of your favorite things about summer?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now I know why our electric bill was so high. I always wondered. It is so interesting to hear from your adult children what they did as little children. I guess you know that our former neighborhood is now the ghetto. Sad. Okay, so I've responded to your blog. I just couldn't resist this one.

Yo Momma

Anonymous said...

I want to go visit that lake by Mount Hood, that's gorgeous!

I love lazy summer days, laying in the grass, popsicles, lemonade, berries at the farmers market,going to our cabin, no school schedules and bbqing!

Sounds like you had a fun time with your sister. Love all the photos.

white rabbit said...

i loved/love real genius i watched that over and over again.

also my favorite part of this summer since most of it is spent indoors working and not getting a tan (not an excellent summer) is eating lettuce out of my garden... and repeatedly pulling those $#&@*(#@&* weeds.

Tara said...

aaaw, you have thouroughly made me miss the northwest again...i love to just sit on my front porch but when i do it here in oklahoma i get sweaty and sticky and eaten by giant bugs...not quite the funnest time of my life.

Rusty Spell said...

One of my favorite summers was being outside in the hot back yard reading Madeleine L'Engle and listening to B-52's *Cosmic Thing* CD over and over. Misting myself with a hose from time to time. Choosing not to go to Pearl Day after all.

Anonymous said...

I love day trips to Cannon Beach.

Jim

p.s. what lake was that you went to near Mt. Hood (looks awesome)?

Anonymous said...

Long days and beautiful sunsets, water skiing, lightning bugs; wetting down the trampoline with the water hose then jumping on it. Convertibles, those little yellow waxy flowers, the smell of cut grass, hammacks, shave ice, coconut suntan lotion, rope swings. Fish fries with family, hush puppies - goes with the fish, midnight movies, baseball, crawfish boils. 'Nuff yet? Summer's THE BEST!!!! Afternoon thunderstorms, warm concrete water puddles on bare feet, rainbows. Summer camp, crickets chirping, tadpoles, forts. Slirping the nectar out of the honey suckle blossoms. Blowing dandelion puffs, clover necklaces. Mud pies, softball. The smell of the grill after a long day of climbing trees and playing backyard football. An added one since my adulthood - Tuesday band practices, band camp march off: and all the kids say, "Easy for YOU to say!" :) One day they will add it to their list!