Summertime

Summertime Sights:

• the lights of the Little League ballpark against the fading twilight of summer evenings
• a long line of people waiting at the window of Dairy Queen
• boys and girls lined up to march in behind the flags at Vacation Bible School
• lots of signs - Welcome to Kentucky or North Carolina or Colorado or New Mexico or wherever, "Smile!"
• our special friend, Gail Gray, hitting a home run and rounding the bases on every single evening of Little League baseball

Summertime Tastes:

• cold watermelon
• buttery corn on the cob
• homemade ice cream
• a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich
• burgers and dogs grilled over charcoal

Summertime Sounds:

• fireworks booming away with "Oohs" and "Ahhs" in the background
• lawnmowers humming around the neighborhood on evening walks
• the spring of the diving board and the big splash of a can opener or a cannonball
• the crack of a bat hitting a baseball, Little League or major league
• the cool sound of a bicycle with playing cards pinned against the spokes

Summertime Smells:

• fresh cut grass
• breaking in a new baseball glove
• fish around the boat dock on the lake
• smoky charcoal, cooking supper in the backyard
• the cheap bubble gum that came with the baseball cards

Summertime Heat:

• hot vinyl seats in our station wagon 
• hurried steps across the hot concrete from the pool to my towel
• picking up and putting up bails of hay on hot afternoons
• two a day football practices under a blazing August sun
• funeral home fans, the only A/C in a country church

Summertime Joy:

• The day I learned to ride a bike on the Kroger parking lot.
• The night our Little League umpire, Shorty Aker, told me I could be a big leaguer some day. (I didn't know at the time that he said that to all the boys.)
• Making it across the pool without touching the bottom, finally qualifying for the deep end and the diving board. 
• family reunions, long Saturday afternoons at the park, Grandpa smoking his pipe and telling great stories, Grandma just shaking her head.
• Seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time with my family and throwing snowballs at my brothers in July.