While I was sitting on my shady back porch yesterday trying to fight off an impending headache…I started to daydream about summer when we were kids.
Long days when we got up early and couldn’t wait to get outside and see what the day had in store for us.
We would grab our bikes and meet up at a predetermined spot, usually with our swimming gear…we lived close to a beach and a large creek, so depending on the weather we would pick our spot. The creek was a good choice for scorching days, we would be in the shade and still be able to at least wade in the water, it wasn’t deep enough to swim in, and it was freaking cold.
The beach was where I spent most of my childhood…it was where I went when I was sad, it was where I went to be alone and think, it was where we went to hang out together with our lunches and our best friends.
Some days we would skip the beach and just hang out in the woods behind our house, we had huge trails in the back and over time we cleared out an area that was our home away from home, we used to pretend we were grownups and had our own little town.
Or maybe on the weekend my dad would decide that we were going for a drive. Up the logging road. In the jeep. It was not for the faint of heart, which was why we loved it. My mother would have killed my dad if she knew where we used to go and the crazy near trails we used to drive on.
It’s not a wonder I love the mountains still…
My best friend Karen, who actually lived in Coquitlam had a cabin down on the beach, well her parents did :) We spent countless hot summer nights in our sleeping bags out on the deck watching the stars…once we were sure everyone was asleep we would sneak away, run down the beach to our favorite spot, rip off all of our gear and go skinny dipping…the phosphorescence in the water was so amazing as you swam it was like little lights swimming all around you.
Nothing is as great as swimming at night, when the water is calm and warm and all is quiet.
It’s on my bucket list of things to do again…
Raiding my dad’s garden was always fun, eating fresh peas while the sun beat down on us, pulling carrots right out of the ground, picking fresh tomatoes and eating them like apples…
I still never get the peas into the house…
I have often said how I am thankful for the childhood I had, how different things were then compared to today…
The memories I have are priceless, the friends I made…some of which I still have, are as well. We were so lucky to live in such an amazing place with opportunities to just be a kid, and to love nature.
If I could ever go back in time, I would pick those years…to ride as fast as you could go on your banana seat bike with big handlebars, to swing to the top of the world, to swim until your toes were numb with the cold…Root-beer Popsicles and sandy beaches, bleach blonde hair and the best friends ever.
What are your memories of being a kid?? Is there anything you still love to do??
