Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

Summers in my home town sometimes seemed endless. We walked or biked wherever we needed to go. One of my favorite places was the town library. I would walk there once per week and come home with about 5 novels at a time. I would finish them all in a week. What did I read? Mostly Gothic novels of romance. I could live vicariously because I never had a boyfriend of my own until I was in college. I would lose myself in those novels and imagine my own Prince Charming. I often sat on the front porch to read in my favorite chair. It was a great place to be by yourself and enjoy the quiet.

There were so many places to wander and cool off... Big Basin, Gray Rock, Indian Pond, Peck's Brook, Anthony's Pond. We swam in all of the frigid brook holes in the local streams. The water coming off the mountains was very cold. One could be warm in those streams only when it was 90 degrees for a few days.

Hiking was also a popular pastime...Mt Greylock, the Cobbles, local pastures. We would walk or bike to the trails and spend all day hiking and exploring. We would eat our lunches at the top and enjoy the views.

Playing softball was also a favorite of mine. The local playgrounds fielded teams and sometimes we played other towns' girls' teams. I was a first baseman but also played second base and short field. I had a pretty good swing and did not like to strike out. My nickname was "Harmon" for Harmon Killebrew.

Wicked good!

I went to my college alma mater yesterday for the Homecoming football game, tailgate, and post-game band show. That was, in itself, a pleasurable event because it was with friends and family, good food, and a WIN by the football team.

It brought back memories of going to high school football games and the traditions we had: Wearing the school colors (red and white), the cheers, and the big chrysanthemum pom-pom corsages. When I moved close enough to be able to attend my former high school football games, I took my kids, and ordered each one a smaller version of the large ones we used to wear: a white mum with a red pipe cleaner capital "A" attached across the flower for the hometown team, complete with red ribbon streamers hanging from the flower. They were so special. When I was a cheerleader, the school presented each of us one and we wore them to the annual game with the traditional rival we played as the last game of the season.

It was even more special to beat that rival because one not only looked special but one felt special too!...and the hometown team beat the rival my junior and senior years...wicked good!