Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Summer (the season) (07/09/09)
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TITLE: Freedom of Summer | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marie Cashion
07/12/09 -
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Summer heralded a time of freedom…no more school, getting up early, studying or doing homework. The last day of school was electric…the anticipation of three whole months to play was almost more than we could stand!
We didn’t have sophisticated toys to while away the summer hours. We made our own fun in the sun. Our Daddy owned the only vacant lot around, so we controlled the ball field. The boys were forced to let the girls play. They had the bat and ball, but we had the dirt! I proclaimed one day that girls got 5 outs instead of three, since boys were stronger. When they protested, I said, “Well, take your old bat and ball and find somewhere else to play!” We got our five outs. We used the lot for archery practice, too. It’s a miracle we never shot a neighbor’s cat or dog or, God forbid, the neighbor himself! We actually had fiberglass bows and arrows with metal points. It never seemed to bother our parents in the least that we were out in the yard playing with lethal weapons!
We had no air conditioning. It would get to over a hundred in Texas in the summer and we played on. If we got too hot, we went inside for a cold drink and to stand, drenched in sweat, hair plastered to our forehead, in front of the old “swamp cooler” and sing for a while. A swamp cooler is a window fan with a straw pad on the outside with water dripping on it. When the fan sucked fresh air over the wet pad, it was cooled. Singing into the turning blades distorted our voices. We thought we sounded like we were singing into a microphone. It was great fun!
We spent lots of time at the public swimming pool, too. At 12, I was allowed to stay at the pool alone with my friends. One hot day, I was swimming across the pool under water, trying to see just how far I could swim without taking a breath. Reaching the side of the pool I broke the surface for air, my lungs empty. Emerging from the water, a boy pushed me back under and held me there. I was terrified. I struggled in vain to get his hand off my head and could not. Becoming very calm, I realized that I was just going to die in that pool that day. It was very peaceful down there under the water. I was surprised when I found myself on the side of the pool, lying on the hot deck with kids gathered all around me. Someone had pulled me out before I inhaled any water.
Summer was a bonding time for neighbors and families. Every house had lawn chairs that stayed out in the front yard all summer long. Some had lawn swings, too. Daddy had taken our old swing set and hung a wooden swing from the frame. After dinner, Mother and Dad would go out and sit in the swing. Before long, one neighbor and then another would show up and sit in the chairs that rocked on their bent-metal frames. Kids would race around the yard, playing tag or catching lightning bugs and filling mayonnaise jars with them. We pulled off the ends of their tails and stuck them on our fingers for glowing rings. Looking back, I am a little ashamed of my lack of concern for the poor little bugs. When at last the grown-ups would round us all up for bed, we would take the shimmering jars into our bedroom and watch them sparkle until we fell asleep.
In June, the days seemed to stretch out endlessly, but all too soon were gone. The lazy, relaxed pace of summer was replaced by frantic shopping and getting ready to go back to school. As much as we loved the summer, the anticipation of seeing all our school friends and finding out who our teacher would be soon eased the pain of leaving summer behind.
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