After a long winter, windows are opened. Everywhere I look, there is colour. Green leaves unfurl, flower buds unfold in brilliant hues of pink and orange, yellow and purple and red. Sprinklers spurt, bees buzz, mowers mow, children squeal, bicycle bells ring, motorcycles cycle and car radios blast.
The soundtrack of summer. Love it.
There are songs that mean more than the lyrics, that move you to more than the tapping of feet. And, it seems to me, there is always a day in May when it hits me, summer is here again.
No itchy sweaters, no layers, no flannel, no blankies. No hiding indoors because outside is the place to be.
Frisbee and charcoal barbecues, gooey roasted marshmallows on sticks, licked by the flames of a bonfire, wading pools, and children’s hair, thick with the scent of sunshine and sweat. The tickle of cool grass between my toes. Sunscreen and bug spray.
And Van Morrison, Brown-Eyed Girl. Lola. Kung-Fu Fighting. Your Momma Don’t Dance. Don’t Fear the Reaper. Sweet Home Alabama. Some Kind of Wonderful. Fox on the Run.
And this one, Sunny Days, by Lighthouse.
What’s your sunny day memory? What does summer mean to you?
This summer means a road trip to Pennsylvania, the point of creation for my childhood summer memories. Then, on to Toronto, a place I’ve visited before but not with the excitement I feel this time. I’m going to do some dancing, and trouble-making, and create a ton of new memories. Memories of time spent playing and write, write, writing (riiiiiiight) with my bestie and honoUrary fifth sister.
Pause for *blush* and emoticon-speak
.
One song that calls back summer memories is Leader of the Pack. When I was a kid, Dad always planned a driving vacation in our I-am-so-embarrassed Red Volkswagen van. He bought ours long before they became a bohemian poster-child for “Make Love, Not War.” The upside was all five of The Girls had her own seat. Yes, little sis, Sheri, the rumble seat with your Tupperware urp container was technically a seat.
We camped en route — with one night budgeted for a motel room so we could swim. Setting up and breaking camp was a breeze because everyone had their assignments. Two tents went up in record time. Campfires called for late-night potato baking. Dad cooked breakfast on the Coleman camp stove. Leader of the Pack memory jogs come from one summer when I had a Dirty Dancing fascination with a leather-jacketed guy in a nearby camp who was far too old for me. He epitomized danger, the unknown, adventure on two legs, and that song was popular then.
Hmmm. I wonder if that tendency to stray to the wild side was the reason Dad was cranky when he had four daughters in their teens at the same time.
This novella brought to you by…
Born to be Wild.
Trips down memory lane–so many things to pack! Trip this summer? Easy peasy: Sketchers in every coloUr.
We never went camping–mom had an aversion to all things ‘outdoors’, but your budgeted motel room reminds me of a rare stay (rare, as in one out of two) in a hotel. When we left, Mom packed the ashtrays and the white towels with bold green ‘Holiday Inn’ written across the middle.
I thought that was what one did when you stayed in a hotel.
Fred and Ginger (of M&M fame) will be back for a repeat performance when I travel the highways to Toronto. So, it’s showtime for the tootsies.
Besides, I no longer have wearable Sketchers in every coloUr. Young pup Molly decided the grey pair might look cool as mules. They don’t.
KA-SNORT on the Holiday Inn towels! I once dated a guy who thought it was commendable that he never purchased shampoo, conditioner, soap or towels. He traveled for business, and had boxes filled with the complimentary items. I dumped him when I realized the priciest dinner he’d spring for was Jack-in-the-Box.
Yep Sherry, you done did it again. Gloria done it good, Wild Thing (I think I love you) or Charlie Sheen with a Mohawk. So many summers gone to remember.
Comes this time of year, memories sit with me, smile and remind me of hot summer days, no adults in sight, just kids running the Brooklyn streets. Me and my pal running under the elevated highway, hanging together; then the solitary days when he went on vacation, ignoring her warnings, nothing in mind, just a kid sitting at the end of the dock watching the ships, hearing the gulls, the clamor of the factories behind me, and feeling good.
Can never hear this song without remembering the pleasure of that kid, skinny legs dangling off the dock of the bay. Otis Redding Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay. Enjoy
Aw, Florence, was there anything that wasn’t possible when we were kids? Especially on warm summer nights, when summer vacation meant we could stay up late?
Ah, yes, Sherry, those were indeed great summer songs. Going back a few years from them, hearing “Red Rubber Ball” instantly transports me to middle-school age. I think I could hear that song on my death bed at age 100 and still feel like that young girl just starting out on her own musical journey, after listening to parents’ choices up until then. Great post!!
Hey Michele,
The Carpenters’ Top of the World transports me to the street I lived on when the song was popular, the sidewalk cracks zipping by beneath my bicycle tires as I tried to keep one eye on the straw clickity clacky thingees (technical term) on my spokes. I was wearing my first ever halter top. WOOT!
Love your memories of summer.
Summer was the cottage, swimming in the lake, water-skiing, and camp. No TV, just books. Lots and lots of books. I was the kid inside on a beautiful day reading the latest mystery book (yup – I went through a mystery phase).
And Billy Joel, Donna Summer, and the BeeGees. Great memories of those days.
The BeeGees! Urve, Jive-Talkin’ was my first 45! Bought it with my birthday money!
My musical memories are all over the map – from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Eagles from my younger days to bands like Depeche Mode, OMD, and New Order (hey – I was a teenager in the 80′s!) that my friends and I listened to as we drove to my friend’s lake property for a day of swimming. All of it brings about good memories.
Do, do, do, lookin’ out my back door…
Tami, Loved OMD! Hmm. We’re moving through vinyl, 8-track, cassette…
“Summer in the City” by Lovin’ Spoonful does the time warp thing for me. And the scent of sun-warmed pines in The Pinery Campground on Lake Huron. Oh, yeah.
Joan, did everyone on the planet go camping except me? I didn’t even have the Barbie camper! So deprived.
After admitting that, you now have to make up the deficit.
Don’t forget the bug spray and the bathing suit.
Summer’s here? Boy, move to Texas, it never left after last year.
I used to go on vacation with a group of guys and the vacation wasn’t a vacation until we had heard Brown-eyed girl – and it was always no no matter what country we visited!
Enjoy the warmth
Cheers
Hey, Nigel.
I extended my summer last year. Dallas in April, then Atlanta in October. Ahhh.
Cheers, Sherry! Don’t forget the summer drinks, salads, bbq’s. I spent all day yesterday gardening, planting pots to pretty up the back yard. Just love it!
I always think of the Beatle’s Here Comes’ the Sun. Thanks for Sunny Days!
Oh, that’s a great song, Sharon. Perfect for summer, perfect for when the clouds lift after a trying time.
We did camp and go on some vacations when I was small, but the summers I remember best are up at summer camp. Six weeks of nothing but horses and swimming and archery. And there were radios and boys there too. The song I remember rocking out to was ‘I Melt With You’ by Modern English.Still love it! Even now when I drive my own kids up to the same summer camp I get that chill of nostalgia. Thanks for the memories, Sherry.
This entire post and all the comments just made me smile. No wonder I love summer. It’s truly the most freeing and exhilarating time of the year. The songs listed are all great ones. As a kid, I remember putting on shows for my parents with my sister on our front porch. We sang Delta Dawn for an entire summer. Later, I hung out with my 8th grade friends and the boys did KISS concerts on a different front porch. In high school, I drove around town (that’s what we did) and listened to The Police and Michael Jackson. Good times. Do I have a song for this summer? I don’t know yet.
Saw Lighthouse preform Sunny Days live this winter – stellar!!
To me, summer = beach, golf and being outside all the time. Barefoot, shorts and tanks! Relaxation, mellow, and low key!
My best summers were before I was 12. That’s when my father decided we had too much fun at our cottage and he sold it. Loved that place! I visited it when I was an adult, and I thought the lake had shrunk, lol. I was the bigger one.