Memories - Summer Vacation

Ah, summertime! School is out, and the kids have been turned loose upon the world once again. Of course, now that we are adults we don’t get a summer vacation, but how well I remember the golden summers of my childhood.

When I was in high school, I spent my summer vacations working with Dad on the farm. That was mostly irrigating since he never let me drive one of his tractors or trucks. By that time, Dad had all irrigation pipe so we didn't have to mess with those nasty old tubes any more. At the start of summer the pipe had to be strung out along the edge of each field, and in the fall it all had to be picked up again. It was hard work, but the memories are still good ones.

The summer vacations that stand out most in my mind came in the early 1980's. This would be the first couple of summers after my parents split up. Dad moved out and Kevin went to live with him soon after. Brad, being the oldest, had a summer job so he wasn’t around much. Mom had to go to work too so she wasn't around during the days. That left Bobbi and me to look after each other. Okay, I guess Bobbi didn’t really need to be looked after by then.

In the morning, there would be game shows on tv. The one I remember the most is “The Price is Right” with Bob Barker. In the afternoon it was "General Hospital." In those days, it was all about Luke and Laura. You couldn't get cable tv out in the country back then so there wasn't much to watch. For most of the day we had to find other things to do.

We always loved to bake chocolate-chip cookies. It seemed like we were baking up a new batch about every other day. Probably it wasn’t quite that often, but I would guess at least twice a week. I don't know why, but we never seemed to get very many cookiesout of a batch. That dough sure was yummy, though. I think it was around that time that somebody gave us the recipe that has vanilla pudding in the mix. That's the same recipe I still use today, and I suppose Bobbi does too.

When we weren’t baking cookies, Bobbi and I were usually playing games. I think that was when I first learned how to play solitaire. Of course, personal computers weren’t around yet, so we had to play the old-fashioned way; with real cards. I think that was also around the time that a friend of Mom's, Betty Gibbons, taught Bobbi and me a two-handed pinochle game. That was a lot of fun.

The game I remember playing with my big sister the most was Sorry! We would play game after game of Sorry! We would play with all four colors, blue and yellow for me, green and red for Bobbi. We played long tournaments of games that would go on for days and we called it "The Sorry Championship of the World." I have no idea who won most of the games, but we had a lot of fun playing.

It’s funny to think how easily we could entertain ourselves without computers or video games or mp3 players or cell phones. Just the two of us out in our little farm house, completely cut off from the world. Back then, a power blackout wouldn’t have been a very big deal. Except that the eggs would spoil and we wouldn’t be able to bake cookies.

Those were the good old days. The world is so fast and busy now. I’m glad I have these simple memories to look back on. I wonder what our children will think back on in another twenty or thirty years.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.