​RETURN TO THE FUN OF CHILDHOOD SUMMERS by Pennie Hunt

Do you remember the feeling? Running out of the elementary school door with your backpack filled with the contents of your desk. Crinkled papers, worn crayons, and the coat you took to school but never wore at recess were all shoved inside. The zipper didn’t completely zip, but you didn’t care. You ran out into the sunshine shouting, “Free, Free, I am FREEEEE!”
 
Summer break began. The air felt fresher. The walk home seemed shorter. And the days of summer ahead appeared endless. That is how I remember it.
 
As a child both of my parents worked full-time, so summer meant my brother, sister, and I were on our own. I remember spending hours in the sandbox building roads and filling holes with water to create lakes. The cool, wet sand oozed between our toes, creating a cast of sand up to our knees. When we were done, we would run through the sprinkler in the backyard to rinse the sticky paste of sand off our legs and hands.
 
With every year we grew older, and the summer adventures grew bigger. We would wrap towels across our shoulders and ride our bikes to the community swimming pool. Swimming and splashing hours away and then pumping our bicycle pedals with tired legs to get home just before our parents arrived. There were adventures when my brother and I would ride our bikes across the entire town on trips of exploration that our parents never knew about.
 
I remember the summer days when I would hold the BB gun and a bag of pop cans on the back of my brother’s Honda 50 as he drove us to the open space behind our house. We stacked the cans on rocks and the competition began to see who had the best aim. We caught horned toads in shoe boxes and sat on the brick wall at the end of our street watching tornado clouds in the distance. We didn’t think about danger or fear. We just had fun.
 
As high schoolers, we rushed to the lake to water ski in the early hours of morning when the lake was like glass. Then we fished until we caught enough to take home and cook for dinner.
 
As jobs, car payments, and responsibilities became big parts of our lives, the sandbox, the adventures, and the freedom of summer grew smaller. The carefree feeling of childhood became blurred and filed as a sweet, simple - almost forgotten - memory.
 
What if we could remember the lessons of that time? The time when summers were simple and easy. 
What if we remember that the warm days of sunshine may feel long, but summers are short?
What if remember to run with freedom where the air is fresher, and the run is effortless?
What if we took the time to let sand ooze between our toes and run barefoot through the grass?
What if we got out of our brains and into our bodies to splash in the waters of nature and play until our legs are too tired to take another step… but then we pedal on for more fun?
What if we harnessed moments of spontaneity and took secret trips of adventure exploring places in our own community that we have never experienced before?
What if we collected treasures in shoe boxes and watched clouds dance across the sky?
What if we didn’t think about danger or fear? -- We just had fun.
 
And, what if we shared all of this with our children during their summer breaks?
What if they become sweet, simple memories that they file away- never to be forgotten?
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                                                   Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                             Remember the fun of childhood summers and
               share the simplicity of it with your children and grandchildren.
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#CornerofSpiritandBrave #loveyourlifenomatterwhat #journeythrough #PennieHunt
YOUR TURN...        
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