Tuesday Tidbits: Summertime Traditions

Summertime... "Feels something like summertime... "

Oh, the feeling of summer. In Alabama, summer has always meant HOT......Going barefooted, picking strawberries, wading in the creek, homemade ice cream, playing in the water hose, beach vacations, eating watermelon and playing from sun up to sun down.

My mother was always an educator, like me, she was home during the summer months. I am sure you have seen the sign - 3 Reasons I Love TEACHING: JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST. Well not the reason I chose education, I admit, but as a mother now, it is so nice to be off during the summers. I still have that anticipation...that giddy feeling of childhood the month of May leading up to summer vacation. (And now, the vacation is certainly shorter. No August on that list anymore.)

I have so many great summertime memories from childhood:

  • Days at the lake with the boat getting so suntanned,
  • riding on a real inner tube behind that boat and picnicking
  • Going to Ft. Walton Beach , New Orleans...
  • Getting Airbrushed t-shirts with our names on them.
  • Staying up late, sleeping late.
  • Jumping on the trampoline and bouncing my little brother while we told him he was adopted.
  • Catching crawdads in the creek
  • Killing snails with salt at Nana's, setting the carpet on fire as we played Blind Man's Bluff.

I hope to be helping making memories like these for my children.

Probably my favorite summertime memories include July 4th celebrations.

My family has a tradition of cooking out together. Not just my immediate family, my extended family and friends...sometimes upwards of 100 people! It started when my mother was a child and my grandparents hosted it every year of her life to keep her off the lake with the dangerous crowd. We have continued this tradition every year of my life. My brother lives in my grandparents old home and still hosts the cookout even now. I wrote a story about my grandmother and this cookout already. It is a special day for my family. I have a memory each year of my life from this day- have never missed a one! We have played games, cooked way too much food and made homemade ice cream every year of my 40.

Today's world is not the same that my Mom grew up in, or even the same as when I was young. Holding on to traditions and family is becoming a lost art. I hope that when my kids are 40, they can sit down and look fondly over their childhood....and still have some traditions that they keep. And I hope they do not set carpet on fire or tell each other they are adopted.


Comments

Anonymous said…
I just discovered your blog and love the story of your 4th of July tradition. I created a website called Cafe Traditions that serves as a depository for traditions and allows visitors to share their most cherished traditions with others. In addition, you can get ideas for new traditions to celebrate with your friends or family. I invite you to share your tradition on the website, www.cafetraditions.com. I'm sure all of the site visitors would love to read your story.

Happy 4th of July,
Colleen Carmona
CafeTraditions.com
h said…
Hopefully, they'll continue the cook-out tradition. My troll siblings not only told me I was adopted they specified who my real parents were.
Good story. Ahh, the adoption thing! Me and my bro were terrible. Actually, I think it was just me telling him that he was adopted. Now my kids do that.
We never burned up the carpet, ours was the backyard....
Hewy Nosleep said…
I miss the thrill of catching crawdads. As you put a stick down the hole, your older sibling (who spent an hour telling you how a child lost their finger) would sneak behind you and pinch you leg really hard.

Great story, you brought back a bunch of memories. Thanks Charnita!