Ah, the good old summertime..back in the day, when livin' was easy. We took to the backyard with a book, a doll, or just our imagination. Sometimes I climbed a tree, even though it scared me to death, and would sit there most of the afternoon just thinking thoughts. Of course, I was pretty young then.
Sometimes I would go in and forget my doll and leave her out in the sun and then her skin (wood composite) would crack and she would get all ugly and I would feel bad and try to fix her up.
Sometimes I would read for hours with a glass of lemonade under a tree. Loved the hammock under the tree. I think it was pretty hot.
That was during the time when polio was rampant and everyone was scared for their kids and looked for every way under the sun to protect them. One way was to stay out of the heat. So by 11 in the morning we would be herded indoors until about 4pm. That was really boring but if I was lucky I would be invited into my neighbors house who has the most miraculous fan. It was called a hassock fan and it looked like a big footstoor and had louvres all around it and the air would come out of all sides and that was great. No matter where you were in the room, cool air blew on you all the time. I don't know why we just had an oscillating floor fan, but Grace had 2 of those great hassock fans and I loved them. I would volunteer to wash her dishes so I could go to her house.
We didn't swim much and when the grownups decided that polio came from swimming pools, we didn't swim at all. But we did put the sprayer on the hose and spray each other and play in the water. My friend Wanda had a sprinkler at her house. It was a circle that sat on the ground and had little holes in it and it would spray water upward. We would run through that and what a deal!! But her dad was a stickler for his lawn and we were only allowed to use it so many minutes a day because he didn't want us making a lake and churning up mud among his grass. Still, it was a treat.
Wish I had a tree to climb today so I could read my book up in the quiet,leafy cocoon that lets dapples of light play on your book.
Oh, well, I will sit in my air conditioning watching the tv and being grateful I never caught polio.
Have a happy summer.
About Me
- Rosella
- I just love life and everything that goes into it. My church is important to me and my work in the larger church is my delight. My family is my lifeline, especially my precious grandaughters and my new great grandaughter. Well, my kids are right up there, too. I own a business that my daughter and I began over 20 years ago. She left me with it when they moved to New Jersey and it is why I get up every morning. I have been blessed with good health and happiness and enough money to have a pleasant life. God has been good to me.