Oh, the lazy summer days of childhood, I have so many good memories of my childhood, and I’m recapturing some of those days here in middle Tennessee.
It wasn’t an easy childhood, but it was a happy one and the pleasures were simple. My memories are so vivid lately, it’s amazing at how many things I remember.
We lived in a little house by my beloved ditch on a dirt road, we didn’t have air conditioning or an inside bathroom or even running water, but what we did have were shade trees and we lived in a valley so there was always a breeze, We had a great little front porch where I spent many hours playing with my dolls, sitting in the porch swing reading an endless supply of books while drinking iced tea. My memories are so strong I can still hear the swing creaking and the sound of the screen door slamming shut when I went in and out the front door.
Our house faced south, but it was so shady the sun didn’t hit the porch, so it was always cool, even on the hottest of days. It could get dusty when the cars drove by and it was such a small community, I knew every car that passed. Sometimes I would run in the house until the dust settled, it would be thick and if the wind was blowing toward the house the grit would get in your eyes and they would feel like sandpaper. And when it rained, oh it was wonderful, the smell of the dust mingling with the rain, we lived for summer rains and the cooler temperatures that followed.
I loved the fence row across the road, the dappled sunlight and the way the big trees swayed in the wind, and I would sit and watch the trees, listening for the train to curve down Appel's hill. My playmates were dogs and cats, and the birds, the crickets and the frogs were all familiar sounds.
Fast forward to this summer. Our house faces north, but we have a great little porch, and the ferns have gotten so big that they totally shade everything. When I look across the street there is a fence row of trees, and I watch them blowing in the wind. We always have a breeze, and so I sit on the porch, with Maggie beside me, reading an endless supply of books, drinking glasses of iced tea, listening to the old familiar country sounds of birds, crickets and frogs and occasionally glancing at the cars that pass by. Even though the days are hot, I welcome the warmth, and the cooling breeze coupled with the nature sounds just transport me back to that simple life in our little house by the ditch.
It’s like a gift, being able to have this glimpse of my childhood after all these years and I treasure every moment. And as I remember those years, I’m very grateful for what I have now, running water, bathrooms, appliances and air conditioning.
So many similarities, that I wouldn’t have thought possible even last year. It’s never to late to discover new things, there are adventures awaiting us around every corner.
And who says you can’t go home again, in a way I have...
