OLK Newsletter

"Memories of Summers, Past and Present" was the topic for this newsletter, and the thoughts sent were interesting in that each was so different from the other!

Our President, Nancy, tells of favorite summer memories spent with her grandmother at her summer house on an island in Long Island Sound. It was a time of peaceful living, where she could sit on the beach, sun and swim, read a book, listen to the radio and enjoy a picnic lunch with her.

As Nancy grew older, she would attend dances at the swim club or the country club, and once, she went to a debutante's party where they had a famous band playing. Her brother bought a small sailboat and once she sailed with an instructor from her grandmother's beach to the end of the island and the club beach. In retrospect, it was a dangerous thing to do, and she'd certainly never attempt it again!

Nancy's favorite summer foods are yellow summer squash sauteed with onion, grilled meats and sherbet with homemade cookies for dessert. She LOVES summer and it gives her a feeling of being light hearted.

Contrast Nancy 's thoughts and memories with Beth's. . . . she says, "I do not like summer and only have memories of sun poisoning; getting caught in an undertow, being rescued by a lifeguard and falling out of a deep sea fishing boat. When June 15th arrives, I know I only have 100 days to the first day of autumn!" Beth DOES, however have a favorite summer food. . . . watermelon!

Brenda, a child of the 70's grew up on a farm in Kansas, and in the evenings, her family "visited" at Grandma's house, two miles away. The house had a large, screened porch, and the entire family would gather out there. The sweet smell of honeysuckle permeated the air, as the vines grew up the screens forming a shade from the daylight sun.

The adults "visited" and the kids sat and listened, unless addressed. Mostly, the adults talked about the crops, which field was "next, the weather - it was always too hot, too dry or too wet; and they discussed politics and livestock prices. When the kids got restless, Grandma would go inside and come out with some "busy work" - green beans to snap, cherries to pit, peas to pod. . . . and the adults would talk some more. It was peaceful and unlike anything she has experienced since.

Doris is one who waits impatiently for summer and never wants it to end! She loves everything about it. . . the clothes, the cute shoes, picnics, ball games and traveling. She and Bob take weekend trips to places that are about 100 miles away, and they learn about their state and the neighboring states. She says there's nothing that smells so good as a cornfield when the corn is in the tassel stage, and summer is the best time to be living in the country.

Barbara's view of summer is sobering. . . . she says that she simply has no good summer memories. Her family moved a lot in her lifetime, so she doesn't feel as though she's had any roots. She had a job at a very early age, so when school was out for the summer, she went to work. Barbara is a product of the Depression years, and so her sadness about summer is truly understandable.

Bonnie's recollections are that of being surrounded by family, playing cards, singing around a camp fire; having an activity of discovery, being involved with nature and the environment, and now, she's anticipating an experience of a lifetime coming up in July, 2008, when she and her buddy, Joan, will go white water rafting on the Colorado River in The Grand Canyon.

My own thoughts bring many mixed thoughts. Growing up in the New England states meant days of playing on the beach, lobster "boils" done on the beach in the evenings, chasing lightening bugs and capturing them in jars for gazing at in wonder later on in our rooms when the lights were out; the stately willow trees on our property and enjoying playing under them, creating magical imaginary palaces with old curtains my mother gave us to play with, together with her cast off clothing and shoes that we used for "dress up" to role play.

Summers meant wonderful vegetables and fruits from the garden Grandma lovingly tended; playing in the stream that went through our property; picking water cress in the stream for the dinner salad; loving being able to help my Dad work on his prized roses and in his flower gardens - and of course, competing in flower shows toward summer's end.

As a teenager, it meant working to earn money for college some day, picking apples and peaches. On the few days we didn't have to work, we'd sometimes go to one of the local lakes where we'd flirt mischievously with the boys, bake our bodies in the sun, while slathering baby oil and iodine on each other.

As a Navy wife years later, summers meant uprooting our family every other year; taking the kids to the library so that we could research our next duty station and I could weave magical tales of how wonderful this new place would be!

And today, summer here in southwestern Oregon is the best of all summers, as we discover new plants on our property, spend time fishing from our beach or the nearby rocks, enjoying the river flowing past our house, loving the flowers blooming on our deck and being able to sleep with the windows open at night, listening to the wind chimes moving in the soft breeze, and the rush of the river as it flows endlessly on.

Each season, and indeed each day, brings with it new blessings, and I cherish every moment of every day. I hope you do too.