Day 24: Summer

Over four days, I’m going to write about my thoughts on each of the seasons. I’ve written about Fall, Winter and Spring, so Summer is the last season in which to write. The cat’s out of the bag that Spring is my favorite season, but I’m pretty sure that when I was still school that summer was my favorite season because of the summer break between school years.

My dad worked a lot when we were growing up with both a full time job and the National Guard. Our summer vacations were usually spent wherever my dad’s summer camp with the National Guard was. He wasn’t an officer, but he was ranked high enough that he could stay off post at night in a motel nearby so that we could have dinner with him. A few years his summer camp was at Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I have some very fond memories of Mississippi summers in Hattiesburg, Camp Shelby and nearby Gulfport and Biloxi. I have a not-so-fond memory of a summer afternoon in Mississippi when my brother went missing (spoiler: he was found, safe and sound!). During a couple of these trips to Mississippi, I talked my parents into taking us to New Orleans. As a pre-teen, I was fascinated by the city. I haven’t been back to any of these areas as an adult but should probably add that to the list of places I want to (re) visit some day.

While growing up, we didn’t have central heat and air in the house, so I remember at least one summer (maybe two) when I was around 12 or 13, my parents had bought a used camper. My dad hooked it up to the power, and my brother spent most of the summer in the cooled camper, both day and night. I think we only took the camper out once or twice to the campground, but I have no doubt that my parents got their money’s worth out of it with Matthew and me playing in it.

The summer when I was 14, my parents opted to skip a summer vacation and bought an above ground swimming pool instead. Over the years, we had a few of those cheap pools you can get at WalMart, but that year they invested in one of the good ones. That would have been around 1991, but that pool is still standing today. They’ve replaced the liner a few times, as well as the filter and steps and whatnot, but the sides have stood strong, and we’re still enjoying that “summer vacation” to this day. Well, not today since it’s too cold, but you know what I mean.

When I first started this post, I wasn’t sure I would have enough to write, but now I feel like I could keep going, talking about trips to Opryland, playing outside with my cousins, trips to visit my parent’s friends in Florida (and visiting Disney!). We might not have had a lot of money when I was a kid, but Summer seems to be where a lot of happy memories were made with my family. There’s a lot that could be learned from that statement.

“People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” – Anton Chekhov 

What’s a memorable summer vacation for you? Have you ever had a Staycation that turned out awesome?

Read more about the 31 Days of Journaling Prompts
Today’s recommended 31 Day Blogger: 31 Days of Social Media @ Gretchen Louise