Summertimes

Just as I'm settling in with the new computer, our modem decided to start acting up. We've replaced the problem component but if for any reason I'm not around to approve comments it's likely because I am temporarily out of internet access.

Despite these technical woes, a very rainy June, a pretty hot July and what I expect will be a stormy August, summer is still my favorite season. I think it dates back to summer vacation from school. For me it was like being released from a too-small cage lined with sharpened spikes, and I'm sure my teachers felt the same way when they saw the back of me running out on the last day of school.

Summer was the only time I could spend my days alone, too; something that didn't often happen in a house overcrowded by too many kids and relatives. During the summer months I could ride my bike, take the bus to the beach or go to the library all day. Literally, all day -- as long as I was home before dark I could do whatever I wanted. It wasn't that my mother didn't care; it was the way things were back then. Also, we were too afraid of our parents to get into any real trouble.

I was a good kid, and spent most of my time at the library because I could stay there and read or write whatever I wanted as long as I liked and no one cared. Also, the librarians loved me because I was a quiet kid. Even when the library was crowded I'd borrow a stack of books, tuck them in my bike basket and head to the park, where there was always a good shade tree to sit under and read the latest Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames or SF by A.M. Lightner, or pen my latest story in longhand.

I'll never be that kid again, but as an adult I still try to preserve some of the fun from my summer memories. I make an effort to visit book stores and the library a few times a week. I read out on the porch every day. I write for fun and for myself in a journal. And I spend time by myself in places that make me happy.

What do you do to recapture your childhood summers? Let us know in comments.