Now that summer is officially underway, I thought this would be a great time to talk about what summer means to us all. I have written before about what summer was like when I was a kid, so I thought that today I would talk about the then vs. now.
Then: We used to sleep outside in the backyard in the summertime. All of my cousins would be there and we would be lined up, sleeping bag to sleeping bag, under the stars. Now: While I have never slept in my current backyard, I definitely still sleep outside on a regular basis! A modern summer usually involves at least two weekends and and at least two weeks of camping and backpacking each year! I don't cowboy camp (sleep with no tent) as much as I did then, but I do like to sleep in the tent without the rainfly on it and gaze at the stars through the mesh! Another big change is that I use a sleeping pad now, whereas we used to sleep right on the ground.
Then: I would spend a couple of weeks each summer with my aunt and uncle, who live in the Bay Area. I could eat what I liked, watch MTV all day, hang out with my baby cousins, and go watch the Giants with my uncle. Now: I live in the Bay Area; I usually go to at least one Giants game per year, and I eat what I like, although I guess now I should be providing my aunt and uncle with their favorite foods instead! Also, my baby cousins all now have babies themselves!
Then: We used to spend endless hours at the river, swimming, chasing white rocks, having contests of who can stay under the water the longest, or swim across the river the fastest, or throw a rock the furthest. We could entertain ourselves for hours. We used to do endless loops of floating down the rapids in a tube and then walking a half mile back up the river and floating down again. Now: I still jump in a body of water any time I get the chance, but I don't spend the same amount of time in the water. Last year we did have a cousins weekend and we all went to the old swimming hole and swam and jumped off the rocks and it was almost like old times, except we are all more careful not to hurt ourselves these days (sigh, getting older is hard sometimes). On the flip side, we had better snacks!
Hanging at the beach with Broski
Then: I had to work every summer because my parents owned their own business and summer was the busy time. Many weekends had events and this is where I could really make and save some money, which I would then use to buy my own school clothes later in the summer. Now: I still have to work every summer but now I try to take a week off for each of the summer months and go somewhere and get outside! Unfortunately, I also still have to buy my own school clothes.
What were summers like when you were younger? What things do you still do now that you did back then (or how have things changed if they have)?
