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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Sum-sum-summertime

Eating meals in shady backyards, splashing in a blow-up pool, chilling a 30-pound Black Diamond watermelon in ice cold spring water at a roadside park with my cousins, waiting impatiently for the music of the ice cream truck as it turned onto our street, helping my mother bring in laundry from the line, picking tomatoes and shelling peas, savoring the fragrances wafting from the kitchen as my mother put up jellies, preserves and vegetables, going fishing with my grandmother, taking my turn cranking the ice cream freezer and holding that first cold bite of summer sweetness on my tongue, splashing in the lake with friends on hot weekends, hearing ice clink in a big pitcher of Kool-Aid, picking out the perfect pair of sunglasses...these are cherished memories of my summers in the 1950s and 1960s.

Eating meals in the back yard
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Backyard Pool, 1955 - by Kay Crain
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Eating Black Diamond watermelons
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Hearing the music of the ice cream truck
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Burying my face in sheets that smelled like sunshine
Laundry Day by Kay Crain
dailypainters.com
Picking tomatoes in my grandmother's garden
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Shelling peas till my fingers turned purple
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Watching the women in my family do their summer canning, which they called "putting up"
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Going fishing with my grandmother
Fresh Fish by Kay Crain
dailypainters.com
Cranking the ice cream freezer
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Tasting that first bite of homemade goodness
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Going to the lake with friends
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Hearing the ice clink in a big pitcher of grape Kool-Aid
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Buying the coolest sunglasses
etsy.com - vintage50seyewear


And these are cherished summer memories in the making...


Grandson #1 sipping a cool drink at a birthday party
Grandson #2 taking a wild ride in the back yard
My two little darlings playing at the beach on the family vacation

18 comments:

  1. I love the paintings. I could have them hanging somewhere.

    But those grandsons! Aren't they handsome little fellows? And so happy too! xo

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    1. I found those paintings quite by accident, and I really like them too. I think they're very nicely done and convey just the right amount of nostalgia without being too sweet and sappy.

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  2. They are darlings, Dana! This post is lovely too, I like the sounds, smells and images of your childhood summers! :)

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    1. I'm sometimes surprised at how much of my memory is auditory and olfactory. We tend to think that most of our memory is in pictures that we've stored in our heads, but then a sound or a smell will trigger something amazing.

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  3. Thanks for this great post, the pics of your grandsons are just adorable!
    Summer vacation at the beach, nothing could be more magical for me when I was a child.

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    1. This was their first experience at the beach, and it was pretty magical for them too, so I'm sure it won't be their last.

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  4. This post brought some fond memories of my own. I think I need to reminisce more often. I get too caught up in the daily stuff and the great memories make me stop and smile for a bit!

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    1. Believe it or not, I've always been a here-and-now type person. I'd always wonder how my friends and family could remember so much from the past...and I was frankly a little disdainful of people I thought lived in the past. Since I started writing this blog...and reading the blogs about the 50s and 60s written by others...I've recalled so many nice things about my childhood that I thought I'd forgotten. I think it does us good to think about those things and smile for a while. :)

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  5. All these things are my memories, too! Love your post. Getting to make new memories is the best part. Your house is so awesome!! What's your kitchen like?

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post. :) My kitchen is the one room in my house that I've done nothing with, because, interestingly, the previous owners spent a fortune making it very nondescript. The floor and backsplash are dark slate, and the countertops are stainless steel, as are all the appliances. The only thing original to the house are the cabinets, which the previous owner painted avocado green to pick up a bit of green in the slate. I've found evidence that they were once a bright yellow in some other incarnation. The room isn't ugly. It just looks like every other re-done kitchen in the world and doesn't have any mid-century flair at all.

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  6. Lovely post dana. And what dear little grandsons you have! They are adorable - such handsome little gents!! xx

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    1. So glad you liked the post and the photos of my little loves. :)

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  7. Oh how that ice cream freezer makes me want to call my dad! He loved making ice cream for all of us on a hot summer day. Good grief that was fun. We had the exact same one!

    Such handsome little guys you have there. I'm sure they are loads of fun. Great photos, Dana.

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    1. I have the same memories about my grandfather. His two favorite flavors to make were peach and banana. I may have to go out and buy an ice cream freezer!

      The boys are truly the little lights of my life. I never knew being a grandmother could be this wonderful.

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  8. This post made me want to go outside get boiling hot... cool down with some Watermelon and go for a swim in the pool. *hehe*
    OH AND BUY some AMAZING sunglasses like the ones you showed in this post. (Those remind me of mint ice cream)


    Your Grand kids are just so cute!

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    1. I'm headed for the grocery store to buy watermelon right now! :)

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  9. Sounds wonderful! Look at your first picture, I vaugely remember what grass looked like. haha

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  10. I grew up in the 50's and 60's too, hence all my nostalgic paintings. ;)
    It was a great time to grow up.

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