Summertime ~ What Images and Memories Come to Your Mind?

Lovely.

Summertime makes me think of the scent of suntan lotion, sand castles, ice cream cones, frozen lemonade,  fighting to be the first in the shower after a day at the beach.  Plucking honeysuckle off the hedges and sipping the nectar from the stems.

Ah yes, the scent of suntan lotion and honeysuckle bring so many memories flooding into the moment!  Love all the images you list here! Thank you, Linda T!

Oh, Linda, I love sucking the nectar from honeysuckle blossoms.

I was just ready to stumble off to bed when I saw your photo and despite my bleary eyes, it sucked me in. :-) Had to come and take a look. I am going to come back tomorrow and listen to the song though - when i am wide awake enough to appreciate the find intricacies.

You are so dear to come take a look.  See you tomorrow ... in the meantime, sweet dreams!

I definitely think of the beach- I was a beach baby...the smell of the ocean, sand, bonfires.  I also think of pools and chlorine, and the smell of flowers blooming all over the place.

Emma ~ how lovely to see you here!  I've always loved the beach and well, any water!  Isn't it interesting how much the sense of smell is part of our summer memories?

Please, no chlorine...uck!

Let's see, summertime brings to my mind: iced tea, early morning horseback rides (6AM when it's cooler in Bakersfield) when I had horses, lunches with friends and running through the sprinklers!

Oh, I remember it well -- those early summer mornings of visiting Bakersfield (and Weed Patch -- do you believe it?) and taking the horses out for a ride on the levees through the grape fields.  We'd always arrive back at our friend's ranch all hot and sweaty ... but of course, tended to the horses first before going inside to cool off.  Sprinklers were SO appreciated!

Oh yes, and picnics and fireworks too!

Good ones!  Blooming Jacaranda trees just came to mind.  Collecting sand dollars.  The cooling fog at Pismo ~ lol!  You know exactly, don't you?

Do jacarandas grow in California?  I know they grow in Australia,

Beautiful photo and video! Thanks for sharing this.

Thank you, Van, for watching!

Summertime meant sleepovers and week long kid exchanges between family,boys going and girls coming...
Camping at the lake for weeks at a time with the extended family - one aunt with a fancy truck camper, tiny bathroom and kitchen equipment... and all the rest of us in tents
Drive In Movies.....late night hide n seek....sleeping with the windows wide open..walking the long mile to the City pool and then staying all day....Swimming lessons and Modern Dance Class, and walking or riding my bike anywhere I wanted or needed to go in our small town

Love this description! Didn't your aunt have it made?  Did she share? This makes me laugh because I go horse camping with a bunch of ladies and their "big rigs with living areas".  There I am in my little tent while friends have sinks, toilets, refrigerators and showers - lol!

 Ah yes, the drive in movies... we used to go in our pajamas!  Late night hide n seek ... weren't you BRAVE!

Oh yea she shared...and her kids.. my cousins would end up sleeping with the rest of us in someones tent...the camper was for emergencies you might say...but I think she always slept in it...and I just remembered they also had motorcycles and would take everyone who wanted to..for a ride around the lake..and there were a lot of us at times!

What rich, fabulous memories!  Topped off with a ride on a motorcycle!

Beautiful photo. Lately summer reminds me of running for the AC cause it's too hot, lol.

Thanks, Marianne! Are you already using the AC this year?

What a beautiful use of your photos, Linda! The song is lovely, and the photos you chose are absolutely perfect. Summer in the Midwest may "look" a little different than this, but I think you captured the essense perfectly.

I'd love to spend a few summer days at your Inn!

Summertime is cool lemonade with lots of ice on a hot day, suntan lotion wafing across the pool water, the smell of a grill being fired up, dandelion stains on knees & lighting bugs in a jar on your bedside table....

Oh..I forgot about lighting bugs...always fun to chase and one of the few bugs I wasn't afraid of

I had completely forgotten about lightning bugs -- what a thrill!  I was mesmerized by them.  And yes, the smell of the grill, the taste of barbeque, corn on the cob and watermelon ... outdoors on a checkerboard tablecloth.

Oh, and I love Jeanna's "dandelion stains on knees"!

...all good ideas about summertime, Jeanna.  I can remember chasing lighting bugs into the late night.

Summertime...childhood memories....walking barefoot in the grass, making hidden rooms in the tall hay and stretching out to watch the clouds float by, trying to find the tree frog hidden in the apple tree (he stopped singing whenever you got close), hanging out the laundry on the clothes line, picking daisies to makes crowns and necklaces, running away with a book to  my secret reading room high up in "my" apple tree, catching lightening bugs....

Oh fun, hidden rooms in the tall hay  ... let's go!  And yes, we'd usually find a bright green tree frog hidden in the hull of my husband's little sailboat.  Don't sheets smell great after being hung out on a summer clothes line?  Wouldn't you love to have a nickel for every daisy necklace you made?

This is great..nice pic and video.

Thanks for stopping by!  Do you have any favorite summertime recipes?

Oh yes I do. My favs are recipes with fresh fruits or veggies. Strawberry and rhburb pie. Yummy!!!

This is beautiful.  Summertime is when I get to enjoy everything warm and beautiful, expecially the beach and ocean.  I love the beauty of the plants, the new animals just born in the Spring, the fragrance in the air that changes every day, cool breezes and beautiful sunrise and sunsets.  The mysterious feeling of summer storms and the scent of afternoon sprinkles to clean the air. 

I must say I miss the summer storms of the East Coast!  I remember one Fourth of July when we sat out under a covered deck and watch the thunder and lightning on the Chesapeake Bay -- a fantastic fireworks show from nature!

Thanks so much for posting to my group.

nice thanks

Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Denise!

Kool!!!!!!!

Summertime reminds me of getting wet with the waterhose on the front lawn and having water-balloon fights with family and friends, then eating watermelon by the bon fire at night.   That's when living was easy!

This makes me smile!  I always had a little trouble tying the knot in the water balloons -- especially with the anticipation of throwing it!  And I loved it when my mom cut the watermelon in big wedges and someone would suggest a seed spitting contest.  And it's a great day when you can surprise your kids with the spray from a garden hose!

Summertime...smelling freshly cut grass, the trumpet and drum of a mosquito in your bedroom at night, gratitude for air conditioning, sweating glasses of ice-cooled beverages, Calamine lotion disguising a poison ivy rash, the Leonid Meteor Shower, the saddness of seeing a perennial's season of bloom end, corn knee high by the Fourth of July, the smell of hot asphalt, admirable tans, beautiful bodies...Summertime

You are (all at once) wonderfully descriptive, funny, tender, sentient and poetic.  Thank you, I love it!

Summer to me always means camping near Mammoth or weeks spent at the cabin in Tahoe. Blue water, the smell of pine, beer battered trout, panning for gold on the Truckee River and fighting over how to back up the boat trailer.....ah, my childhood summers.

We still go to Tahoe, but pass on the whole roughing it/camping thing:)

And those magnificent sunsets reflecting off that lake... Yumm, the beer battered trout (do you fish also?) and I can smell the pine!  So lovely to hear from you Gwen!  May this summer be the happiest yet...

I remember going to Grand Haven (on Lake Michigan) for a week or two every summer, climbing a million stairs to the cottage, burning our bare feet on the sand.Grand Haven is in heaven, is it not?

I remember massive thunderstorms with deafening crashes of thunder and magnificent bolts of lightening . . .and wind that belw the rain sideways. Huge masses of cumulus clouds racing across the sky.

I remember the storm that left a sparrow in mud up to its neck . . . and my mother taking it into the house, cleaning it up, and feeding it with an eyedropper until it was strong enough to fly.

I remember the strange feeling and smell in the air when tornadoes were lurking nearby.

I remember blowing puffy dandelion seeds into the wind.

I'm quite sure I read that Grand Haven is indeed in heaven!

I enjoyed every description , every memory, each visual!  Thank you so much for writing!  So glad your mom rescued the sparrow!  And what are you planning for THIS summer? 

This summer I will be doing lots of craft shows. I asm hoping that the poor economy does not keep people away.

But I will also be planting flowers in my garden beds. I will be drinking my morning coffee on the swing on my front porch, accompanied by <i>This Old House</i> magazine, which will fill my head with ideas for improving this old house.

My sisters and I willbe embarking on our 15th Annual Sisters Weekend, destination still to be determined, where we will sightsee, eat, and laugh for 4 or 5 days.

beautiful picture

Thanks to Stacie and everyone for your great comments.  I am geniunely curious about what you think and am thoroughly enjoying everyone's stream of conscious lists, eloquence, artful detail and poetry!  Thank you!

Linda K. ~ You really know how to CREATE the BEST!  This is absolutely wonderfully done--like all that you CREATE.

Glad to SEE you keeping us on our creative toes.

This is FEATURED in Artistic Minds®.

HUGS! ~ and a BIG TEN!

Thank you so much for your comments, encouragement and support!  And for featuring this in Artistic Minds.  Artistic Minds and you, Rene,  have been such a wonderful inspiration, guide and spiritual outlet for my creative endeavors.  I really appreciate your presence on Gather!

It is YOU, Linda K. who kept me here when I was ready to leave this place.  I'm going to bring back to the forefront our ART JOURNAL COLLABORATION PROJECT that you created that brought me to tears.

And, boy oh boy, did you ever get everybody moving in the ART REALM.

I Love you much for all that you do.  Just look at how we've grown in here because of your spark.

HUGS ~

YOUR ARTISTIC COLLABORATING FRIEND,

Rene

Rene,

You are so kind!  You are an extraordinary leader here on Gather!  I am blown away by what you've created and generated.  A true dynamo!  I love your power to motivate!  You certainly got me off my butt - lol!  Thanks for all you do!

Once again, Rene, thank you so much for continuing to feature this article in Artistic Minds!  You are very appreciated!

Summertime....the smell of freshly cut grass. Running barefoot in the rain. Picking blackberries. Taking turns with the homemade ice ceam maker. You had to turn the crank, and make sure there was enough ice, and it seemed to take forever but so worth it. Sweet iced tea. Swinging from the tire swing in the big oak tree. Enjoying the fresh smell of clothes on the clothes line. Eating ice cold watermelon and having seed fights! At sundown, listening for the locusts in the trees and catching lightning bugs to make earrings!

Such wonderful memories and images.  And yes, you remind me of our first (hardest and best) ice cream maker.  We all took turns cranking until our arms ached.  And the resulting ice cream was the best ever. Thanks so much for writing!

Thank you for giving me the chance to stroll down memory lane. :)

It does, indeed, inspire and I am so glad the weather is warming so we can spend a lot of time outdoors.

Hello Renda, I'm looking forward to warmer weather too!  It's been unusually cold and windy here this year.

It sure has.  We just spent a day at the river (as you saw in the photo essay) and it was so nice to be able to get out and enjoy nature and all it has to offer.  I'm looking forward to more outdoor activities.

nice work Linda, thanks again

Thanks for watching, mon ami!

For me, summertime brings memories of bare feet on hot sand, open stretches of road beneath a wide blue sky, the spin of colored lights on carnival rides, fireflies.

Ah yes, bare feet on the hot sand ... and the thrill of a carnival rides!  I've been fascinated by fireflies all my life.  Thanks so much for your comments!

For me summertime brings all those past memories back when life wasn't a responsibilty and was only an amusement park...Beaches,waves water and it's melody teaches chapters of life in it's own way,

beautiful pic,Linda and enjoyed the video..always yours

Buzzy

How poetic, dear Bhawana!  How are you?  Enjoying the summer, I hope!

Summertime is enjoying the sun on your back while working in the garden. It's sweat while hiking up hills and shady corners with the wife. It's pool time with the kids and smiles on faces. I like summer because it is so FREE: from coats, from bundling, from being inside.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to write.  Loved every image and thought you had to share...

Gorgeous image, Linda & great idea:  Summertime to me is the smell of freshly cut grass, a big glass of ice tea, getting dirty in the garden, long walks on balmy evenings, floating in the pool, dozing over a good book, enjoying family, working up a good sweat on the tennis court, fresh fruit, Farmers Markets, corn on the cob, walking on the beach, collecting seashells, Dairy Queen, a drive in movie (I have found one in my area and plan to go!) . . . there is so much more, but this is a start :)  Good luck with your project.

Kim, thank you for all those delicious images of summer!  Although I have to laugh.  Just today I was writing a friend in the Washington, D.C.area about how I didn't miss trying to play tennis on a summer day back east.  I remember waiting until 9:00 p.m. to play and still coming home drenched at 11:00 p.m.   And yes, how I loved collecting seashells and fossils and shark's teeth.  And sailing.  Thanks for triggering so many lovely memories!

Dear Linda, of course, that's one of my all-time favorite songs!   Yes, indeed.  This version is very beautiful.  Now, for images of summer.  Well, all my summers mean front porch Louisiana - being home with mama on that front porch - talking until late into the night and watching that summer full moon in all her pregnant glory rise above the cemetery and cast a giant silver glow upon it all...my summers mean being in someone's boat and stopping to visit friends along the bayou...my summers mean swimming pools and lounging around in the sun...my summers mean getting up early and having coffee with the mockingbirds - I live for summers - I love summer...thank you for this very inspiring video - song and lovely picture!  You are wonderful.  Salud

Mariana, you are a joy! I'd love to sit on that front porch with you (as long as you will provide me with an iced drink ~ lol)!  As I read your poetic descriptions, I could visualize you in motion ... like you were in a beautiful movie! May you be enjoying these summer days!  Will you be going home to Louisiana any time soon?

Life is certainly my stage, Linda K.  and I may take my five books and turn them into some kind of video play this summer - it's an idea that has been churning in my mind for a while now because I so love to sit and chat with iced tea (and real mint leaves)...and those stories told are just priceless and though I've captured them in one way, I think holding on to them in film would be a fun project! 

I appreciate your comment and yes, I'll be flying back on June 25th and staying for several months - returning in very late fall...I never know what the summer holds as I am busy working on mama's house - tending my adopted cats - and now maybe bringing Shedding Light to life at the local women's shelter - we shall see!  Enjoy your summer days, Linda!  ...Salud

Just back to say congratulations!

Bubbeh,  I love your presence here!  But what is the congratulations about?  I'm clueless (a rather frequent state, I'm afraid)!

Sorry Linda, for the delay.  The article was selected for one the several acknowledges of quality by one of the groups you/we belong to.  Sorry, I don't recall which one.  The gray cell diminish . . .  Whatever, it was deserving of a congratulations--even if only from this particular group of one!

Linda, beautiful photo, and thanks for introducing me to Eva Cassidy. I loved her voice. Also, I read your bio and find we have much in common. Good luck with all your endeavors, and have a perfect summer.  Marie   http://www.paintings-prose-palmbeach.com

Marie, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to Eva Cassidy and for your lovely comments.  I look forward to visiting your website!

Summertime holds mixed images... overly hot dog days of summer, and family activites like zoos, hiking, travel, the cranes and more.

Jennifer, thank you so much for your comments.  I know your creativity will turn summer into magic...

Wow Linda, that was nice....music and pictures both.  I'm in my third week of "summer break" and just now starting to feel like I am ready to enjoy.  I didn't realize how extremely tired and worn out this past school year has been for me.  When I think of summer, I think of the beach of course!!  I think of corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes off the vine and the sticky feeling of popsicles dripping off my chin as a kid.  I've been spending some good hammock time reading and sleeping!!  Happy summer to YOU.

How delightful to hear from you Becky!  I agree; oftentimes it takes me awhile to unwind.  Will you be enjoying Cayucos this summer?  Love your summer images.  And you've reminded me I want to put up our Dream Sling (hammock) and curl inside with a good book.  Wishing you a very happy summer too!

This is absolutely my favorite time of day at the beach. The sun is nearly gone and so are most of thepeople. Shore birds are the only creatures stirring. In meditation, I like to put myself at the top of a cliff and jump out to fly and view the ocean as those birds do...

Oh, I agree with you, Victoria.  It's a very special time of day at the beach.  A golden time when soaring is possible.  Thank you so much for writing and sharing your beautiful images!

When I think of summer I think about myself back in the early 90's, I was around 8 or so. New kids on the block where the loves of my life. Weekend trips to Cannon Beach In oregon. Running around the beach and exploring the tide pools.The smell of the ocean air and the crispy way my hair felt at the end of the day from the salty air. Having my mom and dad pick me up from school on Fridays and then leaving for the weekend on our boat while we explored the San Juan Island,Waking up early to go whale watching. Crab fishing and catching shrimp with nets with my brother at night, when we docked our boat at Friday Harbor.Playing in the sprinkler in my backyard with my brother and eating popcicles.

Ha! I have too many memories to list!

What a delight, Susy, to read and think about the images you've shared.  I love to know you had such a magical childhood!  Thank you so much for writing and sharing!  May you be thoroughly enjoying your summer this year!

Amazing picture!!

Thank you so much for all your comments on my post and photos.  I'll be coming your way!

Beautiful sounds to start my day with, a lovely treat first thing in the morning.

Summertime - wheatfields and grasses swaying in the breeze. Picking bunches of wildflowers, the blue cornflower, wild daises, red poppies on the side of the field.

Going for an evening walk to enjoy the weather - stopping in at the ice cream parlor or running to the ice cream man around the corner for a cone. Playing under shade trees in the park or taking my bike into the woods and sit in a meadow.

Thank you so much, Rose, for taking the time to listen and comment.  I love all your beautiful images of summer -- truly a wonderful description of a beautiful way to live!  Posting this article has been a gift to me because I have so thoroughly enjoyed peoples' responses.  I appreciate your gift!

Well, Linda, this was fun...look at all the memories you have here.