Another Summer Day?

It is always amazing around here in the summer. The temp today was in the mid '60's with some breeze and an occasional raindrop. Add to that an absolutely gorgeous rainbow and well you couldn't ask for a better day. Summer always reminds me of times with my parents when I was growing up.
We had a visit from my grandpa and grandma and great grandma and my great aunt when I was about 5 years old. It was a really hot summer day and my great grandma was laying out on a lawn chair soaking up some rays. She was kind of sleeping in the sun and we were all just kind of enjoying the heat and sun. My grandpa turned on the sprinkler and went up to where great grandma was sleeping and turned on the hose. At 70 some years old it was surprising how quickly she could move. Before anyone could even think we were each manning a hose or a very large bucket of water. There was water throughout the house, basement and yard and there were puddles all over the yard because it was so full of water. Everyone was wet and laughing. A year later great grandma was diagnosed with cancer and she went to a nursing home to live. It is a wonderful memory of these people who were so dear to me when I was growing up.
I remember one summer my sister, brother and I spent all day gathering bricks together to make a barbecue. It was a great day! We used mud as the cement since it was mostly clay and we piled up the bricks and when it was done we went in the house to get the hamburger that we could barbecue. My mom actually cooked the meat for us and we had dinner on our handmade barbecue. Of course that was the last time it was used but for one night we were so proud of our achievement.
As kids we used to sleep in sleeping bags out under the stars. We often put all three together so we could be warmer during the night. We also had the two house dogs come sleep with us when we slept outside so they could protect us. One night there was a definite need to protect us. We were awakened about 1:00 in the morning by the dogs growling at something and what sounded like scratching at the front screen door. My sister turned on the flash light and we could see a very faint shadow of something on the front porch of the house. When my sister shined the light on the shadow we saw eyes. Boy that was all it took. All three of us kids tore the bedrolls to shred trying to get out of them and we were off with the dogs quickly running behind us. We ran around to the back door of the house and tried to get through the door all at the same time. My father said it was the worst noise he had ever heard and he met us at the end of the stairs in the house. He and mom slept upstairs. Mom was right on his tail. Dad grabbed a gun when we told him what we had seen and he went out by the back door around to the corner of the house by the front door and discovered a HUGE porcupine. Dad said it easily stood 4 feet tall when it was standing on all four feet. He waited for the porcupine to get out into the wheat field and then he shot it. We had hunting dogs and other house dogs and we didn'ttttt need to have quills in the dogs. I think back now on that event and realize from a parents perspective that had to have sounded like the house was falling down when we all tried to get through the door at the same time!!
There are other memories some old some newer but they all center around summer and they all make me smile. I do love this season. Talk with ya soon. Rene