Hot Fun In the Summertime!

Tomorrow's forecast is 100 degrees in the shade, and it's only the second week of July.  Ouch...don't go barefoot on the sand or pavement!  I plan on spending most of my day indoors.  Today I was reminded of the song, "Hot Fun In the Summertime".  If you were a child of the late sixties, I'm sure you remember it.  If not, and you want a good laugh, Google the lyrics.  It had a catchy tune, but the lyrics are pretty ridiculous!  Anyway, it's about being out of school for the summer.

As a child, summer seemed to last forever.  I don't remember it being hot, but I'm sure it must have been, and we didn't have air conditioning.  We just had a huge window fan that sucked the hot air out of the house.

We weren't allowed to go shoe-less until the first of June.  My two brothers, six and eight years older than me, camped out in the front yard and cooked over an open campfire.  I wasn't allowed, and fifty years later, I'm still a bit bitter about that!  When I say camping out in the front yard, it was not the same as front yards in the city.  Our nearest neighbors were probably a quarter of a mile away and there was no fear of being outside after dark.  Our front yard was also a basketball court, baseball diamond, and miniature golf course, made complete with a tree swing just for me.

I remember eating watermelon slices with my face, and not a fork in sight.  Sitting on top of the ice cream churn while the adults turned the crank was a special privilege.  If you weren't heavy enough, you didn't last long.  Making popsicle stick baskets, playing Red Rover, drinking Kool-Aid and eating sugar cookies for snack were special memories from Vacation Bible School at Sandy Plains Baptist Church.  On summer nights, I would watch for shooting stars and catch lightning bugs (fireflies) in a jar.  Nights were so much darker without streetlights or nearby houses!

By today's standards, I suppose we would have been considered poor, although I didn't know it at the time.  But I attribute my happy childhood to parents who worked hard, provided a roof over our heads, clean clothes to wear, and food on the table, secure in the knowledge they would always be there for us.  

When the temperature soars tomorrow, have a slice of watermelon, or some homemade ice cream, and thank the Lord for your air-conditioned house.

Proverbs 22:1  "A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold." NASB

 
Copyright 2011 Charlotte Laney