Southern Musings

Dear Jay,

Today, you have been on my mind. I went back and looked at the reply you had sent me last. Immediately all sorts of thoughts came pouring to my mind about my days growing up in the south. I know you must have had some that were very similiar but yet so very different.

Today, I want to share with you a little about summers. Summers in Alabama way back when were a lot like they are now. The heat was horrible and youngsters everywhere were doing all that they could to beat the heat.

If you were lucky, you had a pool, creek, or even a pond near enough to visit. Of course that would also depend on whether your parents were over protective enough to keep you from going on your own or not. Of course mine was one of the over protective types, so my water visits were kept to a minimum. I heard stories of those that would go to the lake or river and enjoy a day swimming with friends. Some even went to town to the pool. We got to go for a few weeks each year to take swimming lessons. I guess it never seemed to sink in to my mother that lessons were great but they also required practice from time to time.

In all fairness, we did get a bit of practice. Once a month during the summer, we would pack up the travel trailer and head for the campground. If it was a weekend trip, which most of them were, we would go to a nearby park. Luckily, it was on the lake and they had a pool. Then there was that one glorious week that we left the state. We usually went to the mountains of North Carolina. Swimming time was kept to a minimum by visits to amusement parks and sight seeing trips.

Each weekend camping trip included packing up our bikes. You know, those two wheeled things that were human powered that officially are called bicycles. We would take those along on to get around the park. There must have been something magical about that park. Our normally overprotective parents actually let us out of their sight. They would sit in the shade of the camp while we rode around the campground. Sometimes we even got to play putt-putt golf. Doesn’t that just sound like such a thrilling weekend?

Actually, it was quite fun. We never worried about sunscreen or bugs, we just enjoyed ourselves. We took radios and sometimes even a small television. We got the same three channels camping as we did at home. So what if the television was only about a fourth of the size and was in black and white instead of color. We were here to get away and have fun anyway.

Now, when I look back on those days, I remember all the fun we had with family and friends. Rarely do we manage to get together and have that much fun today. Too bad that with all the changes going on in the world, that we have lost so much fun. It seems a pity that someone could not find a way to preserve the ability to have quality fun with people that really matter in ways that do not cost a fortune or require a major amusement factor. Today as our kids grab their cell phones and ipods as they run out the door for just a drive to town, I have to mourn the loss of all the fun we had on our trips of days gone by.