Now that summer is here I am reminded of the great summer's of the past. As an adult summer is just not the same. I do continue to love the summer season. It is, after all, my favorite and most cherished time of the year. I, however, can not shake the great memories and joy of the summers I once lived when I was a child.

There was nothing greater than the first hot day of the season. I and my two younger brothers would quickly put on our bathing suits and run outside as fast as we could. We didn't want to miss a moment. The excitement was more than we could take. As our bare feet ran across the hardwood floors and then down the very hot wooden porch stairs as our anticipation mounted. Our feet would then touch the wet grass, after all it was still morning, and we would dart across the yard. There was Dad, hose in hand, screwing the plastic green sprinkler to the end. We ran the along the garden getting closer as Dad  headed towards the house. We finally made it to the sprinkler but we stood a good distance away from where it would spray. Dad then twists the knob of the faucet and it only takes seconds before that sprinkler begins to fire a spray of heaven. It made this funny, fast jerky kind of sound as it moved from right to left. The mist coming from the water created a rainbow effect.

Now the big thing was who was going to be the first to jump in! Not one of us had enough courage to do it. We knew how great it would be and we knew the the fun times that were ahead but we also knew how cold it would be.

After much daring finally one of us would end up in the outdoor shower. Usually it would be by force. Someone would be pushed. As the older brother it would not be me. Most times it would be the youngest. The youngest who had to always be the first during these dares. He was always forced to do the dirty work of his two older brothers. As he was pushed in we would here my fathers voice warning us to play nice or it will be turned off. As my brother was sprayed by the passing burst of water he would let out a happy scream. It was time for us to finally go in as well.

Now most of the time we could not just jump in the spray of cold water. What we would do is get in a running start position and then run as fast as we could, hopefully fast enough as not to feel the sudden cold. The water felt great as it touched my skin but the cold took some time to get use to. The sprinkler had become somewhat of a monster as it moved his head right to left squirting us with its spray of cold liquid . We would dare it and try to beat it as it would turn our way.

The thrill of that sprinkler on hot days would last for years., until we finally got a pool. The pool would give us even more adventures in the water and many more days of joy.

Now having fun in the water was not the only great memory of summer. Having two brothers would allow for many great summer adventures. The stories are endless but it is the simple ones we still talk about today. One of our favorite things to do was to ride our bikes. Now in our first house we lived in a nice little neighborhood and the homes were somewhat close. We were allowed to ride just in front of our house but sometimes we broke the rules. We would sometimes venture out a bit and ride around the corner to a small brook. I have seen this brook recently it I am in shock at how small it really is, how small everything is now that I'm older.

Now we would hang around this brook and talk to different people as they passed by. Our bike riding would only become better after we moved to the other side of town in a much bigger house. Our new home was in a large neighborhood where the homes were far apart. Our house was set far back from the main road. A road where bike riding was not an option for kids. Instead we would ride in our driveway. Now that was not a problem because the driveway was over 250 feet long! It was long enough to be a street. At times we would ride all day creating adventures. We thought of our bikes as cars. Sometimes my bike was a corvette. Sometimes it was the school bus. It is amazing how we could ride all day with out getting bored. We had no bills to pay, nowhere we had to be, and nothing we needed to stress over. What was stress anyway?

The bike riding, the sprinkler, the pool, none of these were as great as the thing we loved the most, the thing we would do every single day from May to September. The thing that would occupy most of our time between swimming in the pool. This very thing put us on that map! Well, at least with our friends and family. This thing brought so much joy we would go from early morning until dark. The thing we loved the most was. . .

Perhaps I should tell you how we actually got there first. Ever since I was four I loved trucks and tractors. I would play with my big Tonka trucks (when they were still made with 98% metal) and I would dig holes in the designated area in the backyard. We would make these holes, fill them back up and then dig new ones. We would create these miniature construction sites. Now one summer my father delivered a huge blow to our little play area. We were told it would be no more. A strawberry garden was going to be planted. Now there was good news however. My father decided he needed a storage shed for his lawn equipment. I still remember the day he built it. We got up early and took a ride to the nearby by lumber yard. It was a beautiful summer morning. He grabbed the wood, we loaded it in the pick-up and returned home. He laid out the concrete floor where the building would stand and when that dried he began construction. Now I don't remember how long it took but if memory serves correctly I believe it was finished in a short time. When completed it resembled a red barn. Dad had a little surprise for us. On the side of this large shed he built a little outdoor dugout. We were told it was a place to put all of our toys and to hang out in. He also presented to us a new play area. We were told it would be better than what we had before and we could do whatever we want. Dad took his shovel and loosed the dirt. He then said:

"All right boys go ahead, build a little neighbor hood!"

Well, that is exactly what we did. We went nuts. We built roads, little houses out of old Milk Boxes (those metal boxes the milkman would place the milk in to keep it cold), miniature pools for our house, and of course loaded the streets with cars and Tonka trucks. We also took these little Fisher Price people, and figures that came from other toys and made them the residents of this town. We gave them names and personalities. There was my brothers favorite character John and my favorite Bald Henry. Yes Bald Henry. He was this Fisher Price kid with a green body and a bald head. As the years went on the neighborhood became more and more realistic.

In our new home on the other side of town things got bigger. This time we had an enormous place for our little town. Our house were built with leftovers from the construction of our actual home. Now what amazed everyone was the detail in our little town. The realism and imagination. It was a site to see. Unfortunately there were never any photos taken of our work. By the time I was twelve I was ready to move on. I felt I was too old for this. My brothers took over the reins but they never felt the same with out me there. One of my brothers is only a year and half younger than I so soon he too would move on leaving the youngest alone. I remember sometimes feeling sad as I would see him out driving his little cars on the streets I helped build. I would wish I could go back. Enter a world where stress did not exist, . A place where time and dates had no meaning except of course for lunchtime.  A place where all you needed was an imagination.

The last of the us would also grow up and move on. Suddenly, what was once a striving miniature town full of imagination was nothing but a patch of soil and eventually the grass would grow in and hide any resemblance to what once lived there.

Spending all day in the pool was fantastic as was the sprinkler. Taking  hikes with Dad on the nature trail behind our house was a great thing to do on a late summer afternoon. The fantastic taste of the local Dairy Queen's ice cream that Mom would bring home on a summer night. The bike riding and the trips to the beach that we would relish so much. The rides in back of Dad's old pick-up as the wind would cool us off. There was that messy watermelon fight started by Mom. I must not forget the July Fourth picnics my Aunt would have every year. Great food and the coolest in ground pool any of us had ever seen. And no summer would be complete unless we fired up that old grill and had a delicious barbeque outside as the bug zapper, with it's blue glow, fried little critters as they ventured to close.

These are the greatest thrills of summer that still linger in my soul and made summer the greatest time of the year and the best times of my life!