Summer... It's A Beautiful Thing!

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.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy First Day of Summer! It's raining here (as usual) but one can always dream of summer sunshine, right??  It's coming - eventually...  Summer gets me to thinking about cook-outs, campfires, ice cream, and swimming pools..  Flip-flops (mercy, I need a pedi!), strapless sundresses,  and the smells of coconut and fresh mowed grass.  Gotta love real summer tomatoes, endless flowers, and the sounds of children laughing - yeah, it's all a beautiful thing!

Time to reminisce of summer memores...  Growing up in the city, the month of June always ushered in "Carnival" time.  There was a church and a bar on every block throughout the city, and every Church had their summer carnivals during the months of June and July.  It didn't matter to us that it was the same carnival company that travelled literally from block to block either!  I remember the smells, the games - the RIDES!  There was a community pool close to home, and we went everyday rain or shine.. Who needed sunblock???  Then came the finale, the glorious finale - the school picnic at Kennywood Park!!  If you've ever been anywhere near western Pennsylvania, these wonderful, little yellow signs (pictured above) were placed all throughout the city and outer areas.  They were to us as kids, beacons of inexpressible joy!  Every year my Mum would take us to get new outfits.  She would then cook for days before that blessed event.  She and my Dad (and usually a few neighbors and relatives) would set up the food 'n stuff ("stuff" usually meant beer) in a wooded area of the park close to kiddie-land.  After the mandatory lecture (as though we were really listening) she unleashed us into the park!  I think we spent the entire day rocketing between "The Thunderbolt", "The Rabbit" and "The Racer" - all rollercoasters!  At days end, we'd be sticky from cotton candy, dirty, completely and utterly exhausted.  The end of the day meant a lazy ride with the adults on "The Turnpike" - it was the last ride as you left the park.  I never remember the ride home - I was always asleep before we left the parking lot!

As a family, we never really went on an "official" summer vacation - until the year the marching band I played with in high school performed at Sea World - all the way over in Ohio (my parents actually packed us a lunch to eat along the way).  I think that was the first time I actually stayed in a hotel!  Thinking back, I can honestly say that really didn't need to go anywhere, and most likely we couldn't afford it anyway.  I never missed having an "official" summer vacation because there was always something to do - trouble to get into somewhere.  On evenings we weren't playing little league or terrorizing carnivals, there was "release the den", "red-rover", and a billion other games we would play out on the street. 

In case you might be needing a blogging idea, I would love to read about YOUR summer memories??  Please consider posting them!

Until Next Time!