Endless Summer Memories

The number of images of summers past, which I carry around in my head, is seemingly endless. I think there are so many because summer is such a lively time and more time is spent outdoors than in any other season.

When you are outdoors as a kid that is when things, good and bad, happen. This process is always what creates the abundance of memories. They can range from the feel of the morning dew on your bare feet, to the intensity of the midday sun, to the sight of the first fireflies of the early evening. As we grow older there are fewer opportunities to go barefoot, the midday sun we now avoid by staying close to air conditioners, and fireflies are not something we catch in glass jars anymore. Maybe we notice the fireflies from time to time, and recall the fun we used to have collecting them. Though the simple joy we used to feel when we caught our first is not something readily repeatable by middle age types. We can only hope to see a younger generation engage in the same sort of activities we did. Hopefully, we'll catch the same familiar glint of happiness in their eyes that we had after running through pure, dew covered grass in the morning, or when we found a shady spot in which to wait out an afternoon sun, or best of all in my mind seeing young children chasing fireflies in the evening dusk.

The squeals of delight from children when they catch one is easily discernible to me on summer evenings when I am out for a stroll. The memory of my own chases after these intermittent, blinking lights makes me believe that these new firefly pursuers are creating their own endless supply of summer memories.