Favorite childhood summer memory

My favorite memories are of camping in our backyard at the farm with a railroader's wool blanket slung over the clothesline with wooden clothespins hammered in the ground as tent stakes. Even the dogs and cats slept under the stars with us. It was so dark, you could see virtually every star in the heavens (now the countryside is lit up almost as much as the city). And the "silence" was golden; you could hear for miles. You know, I think I'll teach my grandson about this type of camping this summer. (Now if I only had a clothesline. LOL)

I rode my bike ,skated went everywhere with my dog,tamed butterflies,went to the beach and swam,ran through the sprinklers at home. We lived off the land eating Apricots,Blackberries,Oranges and Honeysuckle.On hot Summer weekends we'd dine on corn on the cob,watermelon, strawberries, homegrown tomatoes and homemade peach ice cream. Licking the paddle was sheer bliss, and a great reward for the hard labor of turning the handcrank. I was 20 and on my honeymoon when I first saw the magic of fireflies on a hot sultry evening laden with the lingering perfume of the first homemade strawberry jam I had helped my new husband's Grandma make on their Illinois farm. I had a huge mason jar and like a little kid, I ran around laughing my head off, filled it and placed it on our nightstand. I let my captives go the next morning but I still miss not having fireflies in Poulsbo,WA where I now live. The Grandparents are dead now, and the husband is gone, as well, but the memories of their peonies,sweetviolets and strawberries are immortal.

Cycling on the silent roads at 2:30 am when sun is starting to rise, or being at the countryside with my cousins doing all sorts of stupid things :D

Doing stupid things with cousins is the greatest fun there is!

The summers i remember best are the ones i spent living in the country(we moved there when i was 7,coming from the city things were a bit different)Making new friends,going to a two room school,going to a friends home that was a working farm,milking the cows for the first time in my life,feeding the hens and then when the chores were done we could play in the hay loft.My mother opened a canteen a few years later in the summer kitchen and boy was that a popular place for all the neighbours.I quite often remember my friends and i getting just about everthing we wanted and head down our path that took us to the shore for swimming on a hot afternoon.Those were the good old days for me and my friends.

My Dad made us the BEST tire swings and it was our activity every day. We had trees close together and my brothers and I each had a tire swing in a close nearby tree, we'd get swinging and it was kinda like bumper swings!! We couldn't fall out because the top half (treads) of the tire was cut out with the side walls left so we were inside the tire in a "sling" type swing. My behind wouldn't fit inside a tire anymore, but it sure was fun!!

Oh my dads homemade ice cream.. He was famous for it at the campgrounds across the country. I still have the recipe have not made it since he died but maybe it is time for me to teach my kids what REAL icecream tastes like.. Thanks for all the great memories.

All of the above!!!!!

When I think of summer, I think of Drummond Island where I grew up. I loved the water, I still do.

For me (born under the sign of the fish)there is a primitive draw to it and my favorite memories of summer are of the sand beaches, the cool breezes, and spending hours and hours just watching the ebb and flow of the waves.

When I was little I would be in the water all day, my friend and I, Patty Bosely, even attempted to set a new Guiness Book of World Record for the most time spent in the water without getting out! Then as I got older, the water and the beach would be the place where I would go to be alone and figure out the teenage problems that plauged me. I remember one night alone, under a full moon when I watched the water for hours and contemplated my future. It was quiet, but for the whispering waves and it was dark, but for the reflection of the moon off the glassy water.

As I get older, I cherish the memories of my boys playing in the sand, and splashing in the waves of the Great Lakes. To see them love the water as much as I did brings me such great joy! Summer in Michigan is truly one of the best blessings of my life!

I am a product of "Before Air Conditioning"! Loved getting out the lawn chairs on a Summer Eve, and feeling the soft Summer breezes waft over us after a hot day. Watching the daylight fade and night descending onto the landscape. Watching the fireflies, hearing the tree frogs off in the distance...and the Katiedids in the nearby shrubs. My mom and dad discussing the day's events.....and mom always brought out some ice cream. Gosh! Do I Miss Those Times of Long Ago!!!

My favorite memory was frog gigging with my younger brother. We found this old bull frog that had belly on him that was huge....I must have been about 8 yrs old....and forgot that frogs laid eggs rather than just having babies. My younger brother had his pocket knife on him so we did some disecting....out came a sack,,,,so we opened it and out came a smaller, full sized female frog. We were in awe....then after studying the encyclopedia, we learned that bull frogs swallowed other frogs whole.....NatureWalker....you're childhood reminds me of my own....back then we were allowed to experience true freedom....run like the wind with no caution....and langbr, I never met a true gardner that didn't enjoy mudpies as a child. I have really enjoyed this segment....aren't memories great?

Favorite summer memorie
On Lake Superior body surfing with my kids living in a summer cabin walking along the sand beaches of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Watching the international ships pass through Saulte St. Marie Michigan, watching a bird santuary on Washington Island, Wisconsin Door County. Ahhhhhhh the air the water and the rest....

I grew up in a granite quarry town. There was an abandoned quarry from the 1800s within bike riding distance of my house. This quarry was smaller and a little swampier than the other filled quarries, so I usually had it all to myself. I would ride my bike there in the morning, stay all day, reading, swimming, lying in the sun and hanging out with whichever group of friends I decided to let in on my secret spot that summer. I recently returned to my childhood hometown to discover that that particular quarry site had been developed into a neighborhood of McMansions. I was devestated. But, the memories are so clear in my mind. The sounds of frogs and birds and crickets in late summer, the smells of pond water and pine trees, the feeling of spring fed water enveloping me as I dove in. There's no place better on earth!

As I shared the sweetness of the memories here, and the oft' worded longing to return to those days when it all seemed so much simpler, I can't help but wonder "why not?" While the loved adults who presented many of these opportunities to us are, for the most part, no longer of this earth - it doesn't prevent us - as adults - from recapturing some of that long ago magic - to share w/ our own children, or grandchildren, or even just ourselves!!!!!

I know that my outdoor screened sleeping shack of today is nothing like just being plunked on the hard ground under the stars - but it is dang-me close and every bit as sweet.

This has been a real treasure - this thread - what wonderful memories shared here ........ thank you all so very much!

Vicki

I grew up in clean-cut/conservative Orange County, California (think curfews, no trespassing, over chlorinated pools and over-priced gourmet ice-cream) so all my favorite childhood memories were of visiting family in western Michigan and doing everything mentioned on the list! LOL

I still like to catch frogs. I turn them loose pretty much right away. I think they are neat to watch. I even had a tree frog in my house one time and took it outside and turn him loose. Robbie

Since I am one of the older ones in DG my memories go back a long way. When i was a child we lived just across the road from a lake, shallow at our end. My parents let the three of us , I was oldest, go to the lake whenever we had free time. We had a great time walking barefoot in the sandy mud looking for anything interesting, and in the summer time there were lots of bugs, etc. Well that was fine except when i got bit, the doctors thought by a spider. At that time 70 years ago there wasn't all the knowledge and medicines, anti-biotics that we have now. I was in bed with a bed sheet over my left leg-hip area with a light bulb burning above the infection. Took a long time to get cleared up and i was unable to attend the last day of school picnic, which was a big thing at that time. Still have the scars on my hip. Donna

Nature all the way, My best memories is camping out for a whole month through out the USA from California to Main with 8 brothers and sisters. It shaped my character :)

Most of the above. Watermelons were not there.

I grew up on a farm in Nebraska. There was a row of Cottonwood trees alongside the house. They were over six-feet in diameter. One had a swing made out of wire cable. The lowest branch was about twice as high as the two story house. Once you got that swing going it continued for a long time.

There were fire flies. I would dig worms and fish in the creek and catch large bullheads.

One year my dad took a wagon and we drove to Western Nebraska and got a load of watermelons. I would sit and eat and eat. When I couldn't eat anymore I would wait and then start eating again.

I grew up in an arid area of Texas where no fireflies existed. The sweet anticipation of catching the fireflies when we went to Arkansas to visit my dad's family. My sister and I could hardly wait for the evening to start and the appearance of the magical, moving lights. To this very day, the appearance of fireflies in the evening enchants me.