Where did summer go?
Posted on July 31, 2015 by bob in EdNote
What happened to summer? Except for the heat, it barely seems like a season anymore. Blink, and June and July are suddenly gone. “Back-to-school” ads fill our mail box, newspapers, the internet and the airwaves. While my adult self regrets the loss of a season, the seven-year-old me would have been spitting mad at the smarty-pants who hatched this plot to cut back on the most wonderful season of the year.
I didn’t hate school, but I loved summer’s lack of structure, and its unpredictability. One minute I’d be lazing listlessly on the porch glider, and the next I’d be headed down the street to bake mud cookies in Sharon’s playhouse. Or go swimming at the YMCA pool. Or tag along with my brother as Mom drove us to play Putt-Putt, despite the blistering afternoon sun. I suspect the heat bothered us less back then, before air conditioning spoiled us all forever.
With less to distract me after the sun went down, I remember the hot, sticky, humid summer nights more vividly than the heat of their daytime counterparts. We slept with the windows open, and prayed for a breeze. My bed was pushed up against a cool plaster wall, providing some limited relief from the sky-high temperature. It was an early science lesson in heat conductivity, and one I was more than happy to learn.
Today’s shorter summers allow more time for needed classroom learning, but I worry about the lack of time for learning other — also useful — life skills taught outside of the classroom. Back when summer lasted for three months, there was ample time for that.
One year, over the duration of an entire summer, I learned to embroider and sew — with my grandmother’s keen, watchful eye peering over my shoulder to assure no shortcuts were taken and every stitch was just so. I didn’t necessarily appreciate the “chore” back then, but many times over the years, as I’ve sewn special outfits or Halloween costumes for my now-grown children, or even as I embroidered a fancy velvet stocking for my grandson last Christmas, I remember my sewing summer, and am thankful for the skills it taught and the lifelong memories it created.
Another year during summer break I learned how to cook. More than an opportunity, it was a responsibility Mama gave me: Have an edible supper for the family prepared and on the table a couple of nights each week during the summer. She never told me what to cook, affording me that freedom, but it didn’t take long to understand there were only so many times you could eat cake, followed by pie, with cookies for dessert (although my siblings never complained). That summer gave me confidence in the kitchen, the realization that recipes are only guidelines, and the knowledge that seasonings, including salt, are a cook’s best friend.
Even though it now lasts only two short months, I know some people think summer is still too long, and anxiously await its annual demise. Not me. Football season and the new TV lineup can wait. It’s August. Summer is still here, and it may be hot as Hades outside, but there’s just enough time for another beach trip, or a cookout, or even an embroidery lesson. Bring it on1
Sandra Polizos, Editor
