Write About Summer Memories

                                                                    Summer's Song

Sing to me of

marshmallow clouds

and rainbow skies,

of baseball games and

ice cream cones,

buttercups and

ladybugs

Tell me about

white sand beaches

and clear blue lakes,

county fairs and

lemonade stands,

lightning bugs and

thunderstorms

                                      ---Nancy Julien Kopp

Right now, we in the northern hemisphere are switching into summer clothes, end-of-school festivities and ready to jump into those things we only dream about on cold, winter days. 

I haven't done a post on your childhood memories to be put into your Family Stories Book for quite some time. Today seemed like a good time to do that. Think back to your growing-up years. The questions below should help trigger some memories that you can write about and add to your book. Or it may trigger an idea for a poem like mine above, or a story.

• What did your school do to mark the end of the school year?
• Where did you swim?
• What summer chores did you have?
• Who did you play with on summer days?
• Did you read books?
• Were you into sports?
• What kind of foods did you mother serve in summer?
• Did you go on long hikes or bike rides?
• Do you remember big summer thunderstorms?
• Did family come to visit during the summer?
• Did your family visit others in your famly?
• Did you hve an annual family reunion?
• What was it like in your house on very hot days?
• How did you cool off?
• What were your favorite summer beverages?

Summer Memories Contest

We all have memories of summertime of years past. It depends on where you lived as to what they might entail. I grew up in a Chicago suburb and in our teen years, my friends and I jumped on a commuter train to go to a beach on the shore of Lake Michigan. Or, we'd head north of the city to a small inland lake. We couldn't wait to slather on the mixture of baby oil and iodine to get the best tan ever. Didn't matter--I came home with a sunburn every time. No sunscreen in those days.

Locally, we had a giant pool that we walked to. I still remember the routine. We wore our swim suit under our clothes, stripped off shorts and t-shirt in the dressing room. Then had to stand under a warm shower. That lasted a matter of seconds, we knew we only had to get wet! At the doorway that led to the pool, there was a sunken area filled with a disinfecting liquid. Everyone had to walk through it. I wonder now what in the world was in it. Today, it would probably be banned! 

Farm kids summertime fun was different from ours, but they had a good time, too. Maybe they had more chores to do so less time for those summer fun activities, but they made the most of it.

Maybe the summer memories involve food--the growing, picking, preserving. Or it being the only time we ate corn on the cob or drank iced tea. You might remember being hot if you lived without air-conditioning. When I was a child, movie theaters hung big banners under the marquee that said It's cool inside! Lots of people paid the price of the ticket just to cool off during long hot spells.

Did you attend your county and state fairs during summer? Some states don't have them til fall, but Illinois State Fair was held in August, I believe.

Your age, the place you grew up, the kind of person you are--all those will influence what your summer memories are. How about writing an essay for a new contest at Womens Memoirs. The first contest listed is a Food Memoir and Recipe Contest, but just below that is the section on the Summer Memoirs. Read the guidelines carefully and note the deadline date of June 30th. That gives you a full two weeks to prepare your entry. 

You can add your entry to your own family memory book, too.