June 18 was a special day for you & your siblings – the last day of school in Dover!
Epic!
I still remember what it felt like as a kid when summer arrived. In those days we would have said Groovy!
As the final week of school wound down, our teachers (nuns in my case) backed off a little bit on the homework. Classrooms were hot and we had a hard time paying attention to anything. Freedom was upon us. Freedom to not go to school for an incredible two and a half months. Feedom to not have to study, take tests and sit still without moving at our wooden desks. Freedom to be a kid, relax and have a little fun.
I hung out with my friends during summer, read books, swam in my above-ground pool, climbed trees, made models, listened to rock and roll on my transistor radio, read comic books, went to the Pines recreation center, played baseball, shot baskets, and made slingshots out of Y tree branches.
Summer sunlight lasted way later, until 8:30-9pm. I remember the loud sounds of crickets in the woods at night outside my open bedroom window.
Several times during the summer, we’d visit my Grandmother at her cottage at Wells, Beach, often sleeping over. She’d bake bread and her husband (not my real paternal grandfather) would bake pies. I loved playing with my army men on the beach, throwing the frisbee, digging holes and going in the water.
Relatives on my Mom’s side came down from Berlin, NH (where she was born and went to school). I liked hanging out with favorite cousins, Paul & Marc Montminy (twins), who were two years older than me. On warm summer nights, we’d gather on our screened in porch at 7 Lord Court in Somersworth, eating sliced canned ham and potato salad my Mom inevitably served along with her trademark Oh Henry rice krispie treats with peanut butter chocolate icing.
Below: first photo: at Echo Lake in North Conway…me in the middle, Paul left with boat, Marc to my right, sister Fran to my far right. Second photo: Fran and me in front of our garage at Lord Court, Somersworth, posing with our new Schwinn bikes. Third photo: Fran and me at Wells Beach during one of our visits at Memere’s cottage.
At least once during the summer wed reverse roles and my family would drive up to Berlin or we’d meet up at Echo Lake or White Lake State Parks for the day, having picnics, hiking around the lake, swimming and eating. I loved those days most of all.
My favorite summer foods?
I loved fruit. Nectarines, plums, peaches, watermelon. I ate plenty of stuff that – looking back – wasn’t good for me like ring dings, funny bones, devil dogs and twinkies. There wasn’t a single candy I didn’t like as a kid. I loved summer veggies including cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes and scallions.
Fave drinks? White milk, chocolate milk, Hawaiian punch and Zarex (a fruit concentrate I’d mix with water).
When my sister Fran and I were too young to stay home by ourselves, my Dad worked second shift at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to be with us during the day when my Mom worked at the same place. We always liked the fried spam sandwiches he’d make. He’d slice up the “ham,” melt american cheese on it, place it in between two slices of bread and add lettuce and mayo. We hung around him while he ate it, hungry eyes begging for a bite. He never disappointed us.
Another summer memory is my sister and I eating potato chip sandwiches – Wise chips, mayo and white bread. Definitely not healthy, but we loved it!
Sometimes Dad would take us to a nearby lake before he went to work. He taught me how to swim when I was young. He loved the water.
I went to summer camp several years – Camp Carpenter in Manchester -run by the Boy Scouts. I learned how to start a fire without a match, swam a mile in the lake without a life preserver, went on canoeing expeditions and learned new things so I could become a Life Scout (one notch below Eagle Scout, the ultimate peak of Boy Scoutness.)
I often went up to Berlin for a full week, staying with Paul & Marc, sleeping there every night, going to drive-in movies and walking around what seemed like a huge city, compared to Somersworth. One time my cousin Paul grabbed a cat by the tail and twirled it around and around. The cat was not pleased. Paul ended up becoming a priest when he grew up, too funny! So did his twin brother Marc.
Summer lasted forever. When it was time to go back to school, I always felt like I had changed tremendously, wasn’t the same kid, and a new world of possibilities would open up for me as a new school unfolded. I was convinced everyone would notice how different I was, but no one ever did. They probably felt the same way.
Time feels different when you’re older, zipping by much faster.
I’m so happy summer is here. You’ve got time and freedom to fully relax, be young and free, have fun in an uncomplicated world, sleep in late, laugh all the time and live 100% in the moment. All the summer adventures we’ve had together over the years will be with me always, keeping me young at heart. What a gift you’ve given me.
When you’re older, you’ll look back on the amazing time known as summer vacation and smile, your own memories flowing back like a spring waterfall.
Enjoy every second Ben, these are special days.
