Summer then, summer now

Kaity Holtman

Summer is here.

It may not be dry, but the temperatures are finally feeling like summer.

Isn’t it interesting how the meaning of summer changes as you get older?

That’s been evident to me as people ask, “any big plans this summer?” lately.

My answer usually involves a shoulder shrug and the response, “a couple of family weddings that will be fun.”

And while we also have some Royals games and events near home scheduled, we don’t have big vacations to take.

See, in college, I made time for a little summer fun outside of my internships. But in the years since I graduated, my idea of summer vacations has changed.

Thinking back to summer as a kid, a few vivid pictures come to my mind.

Dad would drop me off at the pool (we lived about 10 minutes away) if he had to go to town anyway, sometimes in the grain truck or tractor.

I took some swimming lessons, but was never very good at it. I really just wanted to go to the pool to see my friends and socialize.

I remember playing in my outside playhouse for hours. I had a full kitchen and house set-up, but sometimes it would become a school too.

Mom would leave a list of chores for us, and I would put them off until about 30 minutes before she’d get home and then do a speed clean.

The Fourth of July was always my favorite holiday as a family.

Before my cousins and aunts and uncles grew older and had families of their own, we got together a lot more in the summer.

The Stanberry Fourth of July event brought everyone home, and we’d have cookouts and a lot of family time. The best finale was always watching fireworks at my Grandpa Poe’s house near the football field.

I would go farm with dad, but oftentimes I would never make it past Grandma Kerwin’s house. We’d stop in there and I would want to stay, so I’d play there all day. Dad would come in for lunch and we’d all eat and watch All My Children.

We would pick up rocks and sticks — lots of sticks — and cut thistles in pastures before it was time to mow hay.

On Sundays, we loaded the family into the truck and went to my great grandma’s farm to check cows. I loved that because we’d stop in to see her — she always spoiled us — and then get ice cream on the way through town.

I can still visualize cattle lots, a makeshift seat on the tractor and in the bed of a pickup.

I can see croquet in the backyard at my grandparents and a huge sandbox full of farm toys.

When I was old enough to mow, I would mow our yard, which took about three hours, and then a neighbor lady’s yard. I learned to love mowing and have become a perfectionist, thanks to my dad.

And now, oddly enough, mowing is what I think when I think of summer. I love mowing my yard. It’s my time to think while the mower drowns out the rest of the world.

I love experimenting with flowers and learning how to care for them and make them thrive.

Now I love evenings and weekends at home. Time to get home improvement projects done, to maybe sit outside, or maybe even take up someone’s offer on their pool or an afternoon at Mozingo.

Big long trips seem to require their own post-vacation vacation and can sometimes be less relaxing. We tend to get our travel bug in the spring or fall instead now.

In the last few years my mom and I have started the tradition at her house of doing a special weekend for all of my nieces and nephews. That’s a special tradition for me. Their moms drop them off for at least one night, and mom and I plan fun. We’ve done treasure hunts, slip-and-slides, movie nights, and arts and crafts projects.

We enjoy time frequently with both of our families, watching the kids play, relaxing after a Sunday night dinner, staying connected and enjoying the outdoors.

Sure, I appreciate downtime and outdoors more now because I have less time for those things as an adult than I did as a child.

But looking back, I love that I had a really awesome childhood that makes me smile and realize how amazing my family is and how blessed I’ve always been.

As I look at this comparison, it’s obvious that summers are different now, but family, outdoors and improvement projects still make up the theme.