Kool Aid smile, Dirt on my shirt and my Huffy...

Yesterday was the first day of the summer and also the longest day of the summer.  Some would say its all downhill from here but I think it's only just begun.   Naturally my nostalgic mind went into overdrive and for those that know me well, I like to dabble in nostalgia but don’t dwell.  I’m all about the good times but also love making new good times if you will.  Anyway, I started thinking about my childhood summers and how different each one seemed to be.   As a grown man (chronologically that is), it’s all sort of like that old viewfinder toy we played with as kids.   Here I am sitting at work clicking one picture at a time. 

My summers as a kid were spent for the most part at someone else’s house.  My parents were young parents and also both young working parents so I was shipped around to different babysitters.   My wonderful grandmother (God rest her soul) Pearl raised me for the most part.   I can remember her teaching me my ABC’s, 1, 2, 3’s and also the value of making quality tea and tuna sandwiches.  She always spoiled me and our trips to Woolworth’s for grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate shakes will always make me smile.  I was also raised by two very special Aunts named Brenda and Pat.   I spent a lot of weekends and weeks during the summer when my mouth was wired shut.  (Long dental story to be told later).   Chocolate milk, dart gun fights with my cousins and watching Lethal Weapon with my Uncle Tom are good memories.    Many countless memories at my Aunt Pat’s house.   Crushing Doritos, feeding ponies, playing “Jason” in the woods with her sons Brian and Andy (my brothers), listening to Nascar races on the radio, enjoying my other Uncle Tom’s tea  and all night Nintendo fests with Blades of Steel, Double Dribble and Ikari Warriors.  The all nighters were probably courtesy of that sweet tea and numerous sodas that we often brushed our teeth with. 

Days like today make me want to go back to those innocent days.   No bills, no appointments, no responsibility and no commitments.   Days where I could wipe my mouth on my shirt, eat however many Ho Hos I wanted to and drink copious amounts of Kool Aid.  Days when the sound of the Ice Cream man was the only thing I heard other than my Mom or Dad calling me in at night.   Riding bikes, shooting bottle rockets of the balcony, walking to 7-11 to get the Biggest Gulp I could carry and sneaking into a neighborhood pool.   I could go on and on but that would take many blogs and a lot of my time here at work.   Besides, I always carry a viewfinder in my head to flip through all the good times.  Times are good now and 20 years now, I’ll look back and laugh at the fact that I wrote this blog while working.   And no matter what technology is out there, I’ll still use my viewfinder.