Tuesday 4 Summertime and The Living Is Easy

 Sorry I'm a bit late to the "party" today. Got busy with other things and totally forgot it was Tuesday already!  I haven't written anything in a few days, so before you think I've flown the coop I'd better write something somewhat sensible...LOL.  So here goes with the Tuesday 4 for today...

♬ ♫ Summertime and the Living is Easy. ♩ ♪

Hey.. you're back! Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we just want you to meet new folks and get to know the ones you already know a bit better. Besides, it gives you something to blog about too.


This week let's talk about Summertime.

1. What gave you the most fun in summer as a kid or as an adult?

Seems like just last week I was telling you HERE about my summer vacations as a child and our family camping trips through the mountains on our way to Ohio and back.  But in addition to that annual trek north, I also did some other fun things more locally throughout the rest of the summer. Sadly I don't seem to have any pictures of this special time, but every summer I would go spend at least a week with my other Aunt and Uncle and cousins who lived on Neptune Beach, Florida. (near Jacksonville).  My cousins were all younger than I was, so I was kind of like the big sister/baby sitter for the two boys while my Aunt Ruthie was busy with the the baby, 'Linda'.  We spent many hours going to the beach, which was right down the street from their house, and also going to the movie matinee' for kids whenever they had it...always fun with games and prizes and good movies.  We hunted for sharks' teeth on the beach, and I still have a nice little collection of them:

It was a happy time for me as I was the baby of our family and didn't have any little brothers or sisters to play with. Sometimes my other cousin Becky also went with me, so we had a great time. Sadly, all of my Aunt Ruthie's family are gone now. She developed Early Onset Alzheimer's disease and died in her early sixties after a long battle with it. Then, one by one each of her three children also developed this tragic disease and succumbed to it in their late 40's or 50's. My Uncle had to watch each member of his family pass away long before their time. He lived to be in his 80's. It truly was heart breaking.  But I have such good memories of those summers spent with them as a child, when life was much simpler and no such horrid future in sight.

Another fun time in the summer was our school's summer recreation program.  Every weekday during a few weeks in the summer we would gather at the school and get on buses to go to different swimming places for the day.  Our area of Florida has many natural springs, where the water is crystal clear and very cold, but so refreshing on a hot summer day.  We would go to places like Alexander Springs, Rock Springs,  and Juniper Springs. Then we also would sometimes go to some of the municipal swimming pools.  I remember that we had to have a "buddy", and we would line up with our buddy hand in hand to be counted before going in the water or when coming out. The rules were very strict and our bus driver lady was also a life guard and swimming teacher, so she kept a very close watch over us. When she blew her whistle, we had better come out of that water and make sure we had our buddy with us and line up together. Again, this was when life was so much simpler and more carefree. I look back and realize that we were truly blessed to have such experiences and also I don't recall anyone ever getting seriously hurt or any terrible calamities befalling us.  God was surely watching over us.

Just an example of the beauty of Alexander Springs... (not my picture)

Perfect place to cool off on a hot summer day!

2. Does summer heat get to you? How do you cope?

Well, yes, here in Florida the summer heat will really get to you, especially if your air conditioner goes out on you at 5:00 in the evening when the temperature is 95 degrees outside.  That's what happened to us just last night!  Actually at about 5 minutes before 5:00 I felt warm air blowing from the AC and looked at the thermostat. It said 81 when it was supposed to be 76.  I knew we were in trouble, as it would continue to rise. I called our trusted AC repairman on their cell phone, praying they would answer the call at so close to closing time. Yes! Thankfully they work out of their home as well as they have their cell phones with them all the time. I was told they had one more stop to make and then they would be at our house. Sure enough, they arrived here around 6:30 p.m., and by 7:00 p.m. we had a new fan motor installed and the AC was running perfectly!  Praise God!!! That was truly a blessing!! It pays to know a good AC repairman, who is not only skilled, but honest and has reasonable prices, and is willing to go the extra mile to keep their customers "cool".

However, I grew up in Florida at a time when no one had air conditioning. Not our schools, or our churches, or businesses, or cars, or any place anywhere! And it was just as hot back then as it is now, but for some reason we didn't realize it so much because we'd never known anything different! Our homes and schools were built with big windows that we'd open wide, and we had plenty of fans.  We wore as little as modestly possible in the summer time, and I was always barefoot. We drank koolaid that we made from those little packets and had to add our own sugar. We made our own popsicles with Koolaid in the tupperware popsicle containers.  We ate watermelon and drank water from the garden hose. We sprayed ourselves with that water any chance we could. (making sure it was cooled off first, of course). We played outside all day and I was freckled all over with a pink sunburn and bright red hair.

Here's my sister Doris (at the sink) and I  washing/drying dishes on a summer night. You can see we are barefoot and dressed as cool as we can.  Again, those were simpler times and happy days, even if I didn't really like having to do the dishes...I am looking at the pan I am holding. It is one of my mother's Revere Ware pots. 

I believe I still have that pot today...that pot has to be at least 70 years old or more...and still keeps working.  They sure don't make things like they used to...

Even though I have a lot of happy memories from summertime before we had air conditioning, I am very thankful to have it today, and wouldn't want to go back to living without it.

3. Do you have summertime foods and drinks you really enjoy eating? Does your menu change in summer?

We do eat a lot more salads and fresh fruits in the summer, like cantaloupe and watermelon and strawberries and blueberries, and peaches when we can get good ones from a farm stand.  We like to grill chicken and hamburgers, and have fresh corn on the cob when it really is fresh. We drink iced tea here year round. I love fresh homemade lemonade, but haven't had any in ages. I don't drink soft drinks but once in a while I love a Root beer float. We eat ice cream, and on the 4th of July our family tradition  has always been to make homemade ice cream the old fashioned way, with a hand crank.  However, nowadays we cheat with an electric crank.  My Dad would NOT approve...LOL.   Here's the last time I cranked the ice cream maker at a family reunion:

4. Do you enjoy sitting outside or on the porch in summertime? How about some photos of where you enjoy being in summer.

Sadly, it is too hot here to sit outside in the summer.  We do most of our porch sitting in the fall/winter/spring.  In the summer I enjoy being inside in the air conditioning, but just last week hubby and I went to our favorite place for lunch and it was pleasant enough to sit on the deck by the river under a tree and eat our meal:

I know you already saw these pictures last week, but these are the most recent I have that answers the question.

But when I can, I enjoy sitting on our own porch, watching the birds out on Still Waters Pond:

I believe someone thinks it is time to ring the dinner bell! LOL.

I also love to sit in the "Secret Memorial Garden" when it is cooler and the mosquitoes aren't biting:

(The Crane family loves bird seed that they can find on the ground under the bird feeders)

And here is the most recent view of the Bluebird house...one of the babies asking for more food, please, but Mama and Papa Bluebird have been trying to coax the babies out of the nest all week long by bringing food and then taking it back away from them to try and get them to follow. I hope they hurry and leave the nest because today, just as I was writing this post, a big mean old crow flew to the door of the birdhouse and stuck his ugly face in there to try and get one of those babies! I saw Mama and Papa Bluebird flying at him and trying to chase him away, and I also ran to the door and started yelling at him. I sure hope and pray those babies make it out safely and on to better and happier places.

I think he wishes they had air conditioning in there. That's how I looked last night when our AC went out. I was gasping for cooler air and praying for it to get fixed right away, and thankfully my prayers were answered immediately. It would be nice if all our prayers could be answered so quickly.

I think I will close this post with a favorite passage about waiting on the Lord:

28 "Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40: 28-31

Again, our thanks to Annie for posting these questions each week. I hope you will join in the party with your own answers!  I'm happy for the "good old summertime", but truth be known, I can't wait for fall to get here with some cooler temperatures and porch sitting time again!