Imprints of youth:
Stretched out on a blanket, stomach packed with homemade ice cream, holding my breath as silver sprinkles explode, dropping tentacle by tentacle into the horizon.
Watching fireflies dodge between sparklers, hearing the distant shouts of other neighborhood children, whooping with delight in answer to their parents’ murmured caution.
Red and white checkers, hot dogs burned at each end, pickle relish, and my aunt’s muddy flip flops discarded half in, half out of the patio door.
Rusted metal slide, holding its own, aging and serene, in the middle of the lake; waiting patiently for the ribbon of hollering kids tromping up its steps.
Pulling at the straps of my swim suit, wincing as they snap against my sunburned shoulders, each one sand-flaked and peeling.
My after-fireworks feet carving rivulets in the dirt as I languished in the backyard swing, too tired to move, too awe-struck to sleep.
that is a perfect childhood memory. i can see the entire picture, smell the summer smells. what a picture you’ve painted!
That was lovely. I could almost see those images as I was reading.
Happy 4th!
Thanks so much for the blog visit!
Great capture of those long-lost 4th of Julys.
Screaming when June bugs got caught in our hair . . .
Have a wonderful 4th Mrs. Mommason.
Can’t wait until the 18th!
You should submit this somewhere. I dig it.
Beautiful, Deb. Truly.
I miss fireflies. My son and I went to St. Louis 2 years ago in August. I went on and on about lightning bugs, looked them up online and bough him a bug catching kit to bring with us. Not. One. Stinkin. Bug.
What a slice of Americana. Have a wonderful holiday!
Have a very happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th to you and everyone. Hopefully parents will take extra care with their little ones since I’ve already heard several news reports of little children getting seriously burned by sparklers. Have a happy and safe holiday everyone!
This was so nice. And really…great minds think alike because today, as I was waiting for my class to start, I wrote down some things for “Summer Memories”…will post those later…
I can usually get over missing America, but on the 4th of July…it’s really hard.
Thanks for making me smile on this hot, muggy, Nagasaki night!
after-fireworks feet.
perfect.
i only hope that my kids are able to cherish some of the same memories i have from my childhood when it comes to the 4th of july fireworks. mine are much the same as yours. happy 4th to you too!
(i grew up about 7-8mi inland from oceanside/carlsbad. we lived on top of a big hill. on a clear 4th, we could stand on our porch and watch the fireworks from both carlsbad and oceanside… ahhh, those were the days…)
I really enjoyed the visuals of those 4th of July moments in your life! It sparked some of my own memories. Thanks!
Now you get to create similar moments and memories for your own kids. That can be even more fun!
Very, very nice visuals as was said above. You made me feel like I was there. I loved it!
oh and because I’ve had a few coronas, I typed in sandiegomommy.com…..yeah, don’t do that, um, unless you’re into that kind of stuff of course.
Happy, happy 4th!
I LOVE this list. Brings it all back to me. Mine is a different list, but still yours triggered some wonderful memories of waving sparklers in the parking lot of my Aunt Maxine’s laundry mat/home right off the 59 freeway in Houston, TX — Popping firecrackers and shooting off bottle rockets and spitting watermelon seeds at each other. Maybe it’s not so different after all. Filled with tradition and patriotism and family.
I loved these “sensory” memories. Very powerful to read, I’m sure emotional for you.
Fantastic imagery. Hope yesterday was a delight for you, too.
Oh yeah, to be 10 again!
I almost wrote something similar after our email session…about the fireflies and watermelon and how it sucks to have to be the one to provide this to our children instead of being the ones free to run and play with abandon. But you did it and it’s better than what I’d have come up with.