SATURDAY JULY 20, 2024

 SATURDAY, July 20, 2024 SUMMER DREAMS

When I was a child, summer was “everything” (well - maybe).  I remember a jigsaw puzzle of a field that stretches up to some oak trees.  There was a spot under one of the oak trees that would be perfect for lazing around.  

There were oak trees in a neighbor’s yard.  We got some boards and nails and made steps to climb up.  We found a few boards to put between the limbs - and we had a tree house, a fort.  But, it was boring to sit in the tree house and wait for the “enemy” to attack.  (we didn’t have enemies).  But, the effort, the anticipation of a tree house (if a tree house could be built with about three boards.  

We were dreamers. We didn’t have any worries.  Yes, there was a cold war going on; yes, the Russian had launched a rocket and sputnik; yes, the economy was (whatever - we didn’t care); yes - IT WAS SUMMER.  

*****

My family didn’t take cruises or go to exotic Caribbean Island.  I remember two vacations.  But, every summer was a trip to Maquoketa (Iowa) to spend times with my Aunt Leah and Uncle Nolan - and our three cousins - Craig, Steve, and Nancy.  Craig was six months older than my sister; Steve was six months younger than I was, and Nancy two years younger.   Aunt Leah was my mother’s younger sister.  While the house was Nolan and Leahs - to me - it was Aunt Leah’s house.

Aunt Leah was awesome (most of the time).  She baked cookies and made desserts.  In college she sent me ZEL cookies from time to time.  (ZEL - were her initials - backwards).  And, alas, there was the day that she had cooked spinach or beets for dinner - and I didn’t want to eat either of those - and I sat at the table being stubborn.  Finally, I ate beets - washing them down with water as if they were pills.  

Cooked spinach had an aroma (or an odor).  And then she put vinegar on the spinach - yuk!!!  My mother had potatoes, green beans, peas, or lettuce for vegetable).  I since have learned to accept (if not quite love uncooked spinach. I even grow some spinach,, swiss chard and beans in my patio garden. 

We went to the Maquoketa swimming pool.  I also remember as the boys got older, they were there to see the girls.  One time I was done swimming, done laying around the pool.  My cousins had their friends to visit with, so I decided to walk “home” (that is, to Aunt Leah’s house).  Maquoketa isn’t a big town - about 5,000 people - but I got lost.  Oh the angst - until looking ahead I could see the park next to the elementary school that was across the street from Aunt Leah’s house.  Hurray!!!

Steve and his neighbor made a birch bark canoe and took it on the Maquoketa River.  I was so impressed that they could make a canoe!!!  

We camped in their large back yard - rode bikes around town - and even rode to Maquoketa Caves State Park.

The big event was the Jackson County Fair!!!  Maquoketa was the county seat for Jackson County (Iowa).  Uncle Nolan had been a high school agriculture teacher but had joined with another man to made “Blazer” farm store. (Uncle Nolan’s last name was Zugschwerdt - the other man’s last name was “Blaine” - so they took the B and Z to make Blazer farm store.  They had seed, fertilizer, cattle feed, and more.  They didn’t have implements.  

Uncle Nolan’s company had a booth at the county fair.  So the three boys (Craig, Steve, and I) would rove around the fair.  There was a small midway - which was like Disneyland to me.  We played hide and seek.  There was a race track and had harness racing, and antique steam tractors (I got to ride in one).  

One of the aspects was time.  Cedar Rapids (Iowa - my hometown) was an industrial town in the 1950s and observed daylight savings time.  But Maquoketa as a farm/county town didn’t change the clocks - that is they were standard time.  As the fair approached, I would “casually” observe to my parents - “Gee, it’s seven o’clock here - but that would be six o’clock in Maquoketa.”  To me, that was a big hint that they needed to take me to Maquoketa.

******

And, a Saturday poem:

“A BOY AND HIS DAD”

Edgar Guest (about 1930)

A boy and his dad on a fishing-trip—

There is a glorious fellowship!

Father and son and the open sky

And the white clouds lazily drifting by,

And the laughing stream as it runs along

With the clicking reel like a martial song,

And the father teaching the youngster gay

How to land a fish in the sportsman's way.

I fancy I hear them talking there

In an open boat, and the speech is fair.

And the boy is learning the ways of men

From the finest man in his youthful ken.

Kings, to the youngster, cannot compare

With the gentle father who's with him there.

And the greatest mind of the human race

Not for one minute could take his place.

Which is happier, man or boy?

The soul of the father is steeped in joy,

For he's finding out, to his heart's delight,

That his son is fit for the future fight.

He is learning the glorious depths of him,

And the thoughts he thinks and his every whim;

And he shall discover, when night comes on,

How close he has grown to his little son.

A boy and his dad on a fishing-trip—

Builders of life's companionship!

Oh, I envy them, as I see them there

Under the sky in the open air,

For out of the old, old long-ago

Come the summer days that I used to know,

When I learned life's truths from my father's lips

As I shared the joy of his fishing-trips.

*****

“BACK YARD:

By Carl Sandberg

Shine on, O moon of summer.  

Shine to the leaves of grass, catalpa and oak,  

All silver under your rain to-night.  

  

An Italian boy is sending songs to you to-night from an accordion.  

A Polish boy is out with his best girl; they marry next month;

     to-night they are throwing you kisses.

  

An old man next door is dreaming over a sheen that sits in a

     cherry tree in his back yard.  

  

The clocks say I must go—I stay here sitting on the back porch drinking

     white thoughts you rain down.  

  

     Shine on, O moon,  

Shake out more and more silver changes.

*****

Wonderful memories from days long past.  I hope you also had sweet summers.

LOVE DOES REALLY WIN

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, July 20, 2024