I love cool summer nights. Summer nights aren’t supposed to be cool, so they come as a surprise, a treat. They remind me that life is filled with surprises, that I’m not really the one in control of my life, and that that is a good thing. Cool summer nights remind me of my favorite summer, the year I was 11, almost 12, going into 6th grade. My parents would sometimes allow me to invite a friend to spend the night, and we would sleep out in my family’s camping trailer. Even though we were just in my backyard, we felt as though we were in another world, kid summer world, where summer seemed endless and we had no concept that the world could be a dangerous place. We stayed up waaaaay past our bedtime playing 500 Gin Rummy and Euchre. Those nights were filled with endless giggles over silly jokes, popcorn and 7-up, and flashlight tag after it got dark. Good times.
Cool summer nights were also a gift because they brought breezy, not-so-humid summer days. Few homes had air conditioning when I was growing up, so we spent our days outside. My favorite days were spent riding my new blue Schwinn bike to the local library. I loved to read, and the summer I was old enough to ride my bike alone to the library was the summer I fell in love with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Borrowers, and Betsy, Tacy and Tib. I’m not sure what I loved more, the all-by-myself-bicycle-riding or the read-the-book-from-beginning-to-end marathon afternoons, sitting in the wooden Boston rocker on our big screened porch. Very good times.
Cool summer nights are more than a respite from hot and humid summers. They take me back to kid summer world, to best loved books, and to the memory of riding my new blue Schwinn bike. Hmmmmm, maybe I’ll ride my new blue Bike Friday tomorrow. Or start my new book, The Chronicles of Narnia. Very very good times.
from the Bellfry 