Summer At Last

Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest! Last week we set records for some mighty hot days. And while it has cooled down a little, it finally feels like summer is here to stay for a bit.

I've enjoyed the warmth and the special feel that only summer brings. But it's also made me a bit nostalgic. During the past couple of days, I've thought about some of my childhood summers and the things that I miss. For instance:

Summer dinners comprised of only fresh corn on the cob, picked just minutes before from my dad's garden.

Helping my mother can everything from pickles to pears.

Playing frozen tag outside with the neighbor kids after dinner.

Babydoll pajamas.

The smell of freshly mowed grass coming through the window of our basement bedroom.

My mother's giant bowls of potato salad, macaroni salad, and shrimp salad.

Eating juicy wedges of watermelon while sitting on the back patio steps.

The smell and taste of sun-warmed raspberries that had a way of ending up in my mouth instead of in the baskets as we picked them in the early morning sun.

Camping trips to the ocean every year where we had a blast digging razor clams.

Listening to the sound of my parents' voices outside by the campfire and the crackling of the fire while my sisters and I tried to go to sleep in the tent...usually with little success.

Anticipating the return of my grandparents who spent their summers in Kodiak, Alaska as cooks for the fishermen and the trip to the airport to pick them up.

Staying up "late"... as in 8:30...since we didn't have to get up for school in the morning.

And probably, most of all, the absolute innocence of the times, knowing that my parents could do anything!

It was all a very long time ago. But that's the good thing about sweet memories; I can call them up at anytime and it's like they happened just yesterday!