June 25: I have an abiding memory of my Mum hanging laundry in the yard at our home on Inglewood Drive. It was a sunny day in June and I had come crunching up the gravel drive after school to find her draping sheets in the breeze. I’m sure there is a deep-seated psychological reason that I remember the day: its association with the happiness and security of our home, the love I feel for my Mother – that sort of thing.
But I think the real reason I remember it so well is that it was the last day of school, and by extension, it was the first day of summer vacation. I had the whole summer to do exactly what I wanted. Time was infinite and the promise of the summer unlimited.
Today I was reminded that we have now passed the longest day of the year. The trees that were in bud not long ago now have leaves, and the blossoms on the chestnut tree have been replaced with miniature spiky nuts. The tomato plants that were seedlings 3 weeks ago are now waist-high. The birds that were staking territory not so long ago are now in a furious race to raise their young and get ready for migration.
Sly Stone had it right in his song Hot Fun in the Summertime. In 7 short verses and about 3 minutes flat, summer comes and goes:
End of the spring and here she comes back
Hi, hi, hi, hi there
Them summer days, those summer days
That’s when I had most of my fun back
High, high, high, high there
Them summer days, those summer days
I ‘Cloud nine’ when I want to
Out of school, yeah
County fair in the country sun
And everything, it’s true, ooh, yeah, yeah
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
First of the fall and then she goes back
Bye, bye, bye, bye there
Them summer days, those summer days
‘Boop-boop-ba-boop-boop’ when I want to
Out of school
County fair in the country sun
And everything, it’s cool, ooh, yeah
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Summer is still the best time of the year for me, but it does go by in a flash. It already feels half-over even if it just “officially” started last week. The kids are now out of school, and this year especially, I’m going to try to find that time in my childhood when school ended and summer was a time of unlimited possibilities, a time for fun and excitement and wonder. You remember that time too, don’t you ?