As soon as I could drive, I visited my school friends in the summer months. We talked for hours. Went to parks in the dark. Considered the possibility of ghosts and boyfriends. Went swimming and made up dances in the pool. We talked on the phone for hours, Christi and […]
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I used to love the feel of a hot summer sun on my skin. Lying on my back in the treehouse, trying to get a tan but getting severely bored instead, I still felt comfortably warm. Until the sun felt painful in the form of a sunburn, making sleep impossible. […]
Times change. I lost my grandpa when I was only 10. My parents saw the need to relieve my grandma from the traditional burden. The campout was disbanded, and the barbecue was officially moved to my backyard. Aunt DeAnn was – and is – the hero of the 4th. Not […]
Each year I could sense it coming, could smell the ancient canvas tent, see the sparklers carving words into the air, and feel the heat of the day turn into a warm summer’s night. I could taste burgers laden with potato chips, and devour homemade vanilla ice cream. Daph and […]
Summer tastes like vanilla and blueberries. I can taste the sweet cherry of a hot Twizzler and the smushed banana taffy thrown from a parade float. Ice-cold Coca-cola skitters across my tongue and a lemon-flavored Jolly Rancher soothes my dry throat. The holidays bring hamburgers cooked over charcoal. Potato salad […]
When the days grew long, so long that the sky stayed light until almost 10 o’clock at night, we became night owls. The four of us roamed the streets. The four of us; me, Daph, Julie, and Leah. We wore short shorts and tank tops and no shoes, and we […]
An early summer day looks pine green and cerulean blue. Bright marigold orange and lavender purple spill over the ground. The thick grass in our backyard looks like a soft carpet, ready for bare feet. A midsummer’s day looks hazy and pale like all the colors have dulled. Brown spots […]
Road construction has a potent and memorable smell, and each time I get a whiff of blacktop I am taken back to the summers of my childhood. Riding around town on my purple bike with the banana seat, I would often run into the odor of freshly poured road. On […]
Growing up, Memorial Day meant breakfast in the mountains, bees trying to eat my bacon, and trying to avoid the high, swift river. The day meant smoky charcoal-flavored burgers and potato chips and talking with cousins late into the evening. The Sunday before we might have gone to the cemetery. […]
During my high school years, the end of the school year signified many things. Freedom from homework. Late night walks with my sister and my cousins. Dreams of summer flirting and romances that never actually happened. I never had the chance to miss the smell of paper because I loved […]