IT’S SUMMERTIME!

Our Creator has made lovely days and has given us deep hearts to enjoy them.

“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark the seasons and days and years….’”

Genesis 1:14

Last October, I wrote a post about “God’s Four Seasons,” describing what I love about each season. 

I love each season in its time, and right now, it’s time for summer! 

When I was a very young girl, there was a popular song called “It’s Summertime, Summertime” by The Jamies.  It’s a bouncy tune with snappy lyrics about summertime’s joys.  My teenage brother had his radio on most of the time, and  I remember hearing this particular song on the day we got out of school for summer vacation.  That was always a glorious day!  Three months of no school stretched out before us, and warm weather beckoned us to be outdoors practically all the time playing all sorts of games, many of which we just made up.

When June comes around each year and summertime begins, I recall hearing that song and the joy I felt as a young kid loving the warm weather and the freedom of summer vacation. 

What fun summer was when I was young!

Times were quite different from now.  Television only had a few channels, and we watched little TV during the day.  There was more to do outdoors with the neighborhood kids!

My parents’ home had a huge backyard backing up to the Little Calumet River.  The river was very polluted so we couldn’t go in it, but that didn’t stop us from playing along its shore, skipping stones, throwing in the most giant rocks we could find, and finding an occasional Indian arrowhead.  Next to their home was a large empty lot overgrown with giant hogweed.  The hogweed grew so tall it was way over our heads.  We used to stamp the weeds down and create a complex route of “trails” in the weeds which we ran happily through playing tag or hide and seek. 

A badminton net was always set up in the backyard, and we played some wild games. 

The yard was also large enough for us to play whiffle ball games.  There was a massive cottonwood tree that we loved to climb.  And right next to the house was a sizeable cement patio with a basketball hoop set up at one end for lively basketball games or simple games of “Horse.”  We went out again after supper and stayed until our parents called us home, riding our bikes until it turned dark and then playing flashlight tag, or “hide-and-go-seek in the dark.” 

There were trips to the beach and sand dunes along Lake Michigan and days spent at public outdoor pools.  One, in particular, was our favorite.  It was called “Green Lake,” a deep lake that my dad said used to be a quarry until it hit an underground spring.  This deep lake was where the big kids swam.  It was sectioned off from a shallow “lake” created as a children’s area, which included a sandy “beach.”  Mom took us and all the neighborhood kids to the children’s area at Green Lake, where we spent many happy summer days.

Summer was just as much fun during my high school and college years.

In high school, I remember loving the warm summer nights and rides with my friends in a convertible.  The song “California Nights” by Leslie Gore brings back those memories whenever I hear it.  The nighttime also brought many enjoyable trips with a group of friends to drive-in movies.

We visited Melody Lane, an ice cream parlor with funny and unique specialty creations like the Buckingham Fountain, the Pig Pen, and the Tornado, a gigantic creation that several people could share.

We frequented a spot called “Old Town,” an older section north of downtown Chicago with remarkable architecture, a bohemian atmosphere, and iconic restaurants and shops.  We loved wandering the quaint streets, eating at The Pickle Barrel, where they handed out enormous dill pickles to eat for free, or at the Paul Bunyan restaurant, where they had gigantic chocolate chip cookies.

College summers were times of romance.

I met my future husband in my freshman year of college.  Our first summer of dating was splendid!  There were trips to the beach, drive-in movies, and taking in the performances of famous music artists in downtown Chicago.  This was an era before multiplex movie theaters, so if we wanted to see a movie that had just come out, we had to go to one of the many majestic-like movie theaters in Chicago, which made going to the movies very special.  We also went on many long bike rides and had picnics in the forest preserves.

Summertime for me now is very different.

I don’t spend nearly as much time outside as I did in my youth, although I still love to be outside in the summer.  I enjoy seeing all the green trees and beautiful flowers.  I sit on our deck and listen to the multitude of birds flittering around, trying to identify the call of each one.  We still try to make at least one trip to the beach at Lake Michigan.  It’s a long drive, but it’s worth it, swimming in the cold freshwater lake or sitting on the beach, soaking in the invigorating atmosphere of being by the Great Lake.

Our son has a built-in pool, and the times spent there with his family are pure gold!  I love being in or near water in the summertime.  It feels so natural to me—perhaps the result of our family always vacationing for two weeks at a cottage on a lake when I was a kid.  As a young married couple, then as parents, we tried to vacation near a lake as often as possible.  Swimming in the summertime is pure heaven!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer!

I know it’s super-hot in some areas of the country, and that’s no fun.  But wherever you are, enjoy the season as God created it.  Look around you, especially here in the Midwest, and appreciate the greenery and the warm weather while we have it.  You know what Midwest winters can be like!  But we won’t think about that right now, will we?  It’s summertime, summertime!