Then followed that beautiful season ~ ~ Summer ~ ~
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new; created in all the freshness of childhood.


Howdy Bloggers!

Do you remember Summers as a child? Didn't they seem to go on forever and a day? One of my fondest memories was laying in the grass in my backyard searching for the elusive 4 leaf clover ~ I would spend hours searching every nook and cranny. Now a days you never see little ones outside playing, much less looking for a clover.

In the summer of my youth, I was forever outside. My Mother had this system ~ when the church bells rang at noon ~ come home for lunch ~ when they rang again at 6:00 ~ come home for dinner. I'd follow my brother and his friends through the swamps in search of toads, minnows and anything else that crossed our paths. We'd climb trees, throw rocks at bee hives, catch fireflies, swim in the falls, and ride our bikes with a friend on the handlebars to get a Pop. (Soda for you people in da south) *lol*

My favorite summertime memory was going to my cabin. This cabin was built by my grandfather in the 1920's. It is rumored that my grampa rented it out to Hemmingway for a week. Going to the cabin was like going to a different world. One of the first things you did as you woke up was grab some gallon milk jugs and head down the road a few miles (walking I might add)

I'd follow my brother barefoot bemoaning the fact we had to haul water. The place we got water from was another cabin and we called it Zucka's ~ he had a outside faucet we would use. It was rumored he was a cranky, strange, old man and I was always terrified to get water there. Now as I see it as a adult, it was just a neighborly cabin owner sharing his water. I would fill up my 2 or 3 gallon jugs of water and put them on the stick, then over my shoulders and head back. You never really realize how much water you use in a day until you need to haul it.

We took our baths in the lake, took me a few tries to realize that only Ivory soap floats ~ nothing like getting sand grains in your soap ~ uggg! *lol* And yes, since we had no running water we had the dreaded "outhouse". I often wondered if I sat upon the same throne as Hemmingway! We would cook over the campfire, food never tastes as good as that. At night we'd turn over damp leaves on the ground as the other one held a flashlight ~ to find the largest nightcrawlers known to man, or least to us!

I would fish all the time, mostly by myself ~ I would use this little dock just across from the scary "Zucka" house. When I was about 10 I caught this huge catfish and if any of you fish ~ you know how hard they fight and how it is even harder to get them off the hook without cutting yourself. I always fished for fun, and tossed back the fish I caught ~ but for the life of me I could not get this fish off my hook. My hands were bleeding, and I was desperately trying to free it ~ yet at the same time I "hated" touching a catfish.

Tears are streaming down my face as the catfish is nearly dead in my hands ~ and I hear this scuffling noise behind me ~ only to see old man Zucka coming across the road. I think I stopped breathing for a second and tried to wipe away my tears. He says very softly, "here child" and took the fish from me. In one swoop he had it off and tossed in back in the lake, I was almost too terrified to look up. He say's, "your one of Yaka's kids (dad's nickname) and I said, "yes sir" ~ he then tells me next time I catch a catfish to just cut the line, and then says say hello to your Dad as he shuffles back across the road. I remember he had these bright blue, twinkling eyes.

Now as the years have come and gone ~ we have changed the cabin some, but we are trying to keep it as rustic as we can. We finally got running water, by digging a well ~ and added a small bathroom. No more sitting on the 2 seater, holding your breath, and watching for spiders! Can honestly say I don't mind that change! We still don't have a phone or t/v at the cabin ~ and we prefer it that way. We did add a sauna and a shower ~ nothing better then taking a hot, hot sauna and jumping in the snowbanks outside in the winter!

Summertime ~ will it ever be the same sweet memories for our children? Will they leave their computer games, nintendo games and search for the elusive 4 leaf clover? I hope and pray they do, for these are some of the sweetest memories they will have later on as an adult.

Huggles and God Bless

~Bren~