We had this amazing, magnificent, enormous, gigantic, and beautiful live oak growing on our property. It was over a hundred years old. It was perfect for climbing. I spent countless hours in it, especially during the summers-- climbing, "building" (we weren't allowed to use nails on it, but could drag planks around and tie things with rope), making rope swings, sometimes just reading or chilling on a branch and staring at the sky through the leaves.

There was a pile of sand under it we could jump in from low lying branches. During the fall, it dropped millions of acorns that we would sometimes collect for no real reason. There were lots of "little oak trees" growing up around it but they'd never get more than a few inches tall.

Some of my favorite poetry now I'm grown features live oaks. . . "The Marshes of Glynn" by Sydney Lanier, "A Live Oak in Louisiana" by Walt Whitman. Also have framed photographs of live oaks in my bedroom, which is painted green.

I loved my tree. I kind of think it loved me, too.

(((((RT)))))

What a nice memory you have. It sounded really nice, warm and cozy.


(((HIC)))

I climbed trees too! And my bedroom is green!!! We are living parallel lives!!!

I remember being with my Dad, sitting next to him in the car. I was Daddy's girl and somehow it was just accepted that I got to sit right smack next to him (before bucket seats and seat belt laws) in the car. It was probably the only time I felt safe. I loved picking his brain. He drove a lot and taught me all about maps and rules of the road. It was how we connected.

What a nice thread.

As some of you may know, I love horses and have ridden them my whole life. When I was little, I used to set up jumps into a course in the backyard and jump them. And for anyone who knows what 3-day eventing is, I'd set up each event and invite people over to "compete." I called them "People Trials" (rather than horse trials. ).

My grandad used to come home from his work at lunch time and I would be sitting in the kitchen eating my soup and he would try and steal my plate and I would hit his hand with my spoon!!!! Made me laugh every time. I only saw them in the big holidays.

At the end of the day I would wait at the end of the street until he came around the corner and walk the rest of the way home with him.

KASHLEY, that was so creative and aweseome.

SCARS, my grandfather used to take the hot spoon from his coffee after he stirred it and touch the spoon to the top of my hand. I know it doesn't sound very nice but for some reason we all thought it was very funny.

Yes a great thread RT!
Each one of the above made me sigh & smile. Very comforting.
I have many good memories of my childhood when I think about it. We lived on a farmette, 8 acres & I had 5 older siblings so there was always someone to play w/ or pest
Had trouble coming up w/ one so here's a few:

*Spring peepers. My absolute favorite!
*Tomato fights in the garden. Our garden was 3/4 acre & us kids spent most of our summer taking care of it. A rotten tomato always started it & we used the corn for cover.
*Sledding. Always stuck in the front.
*Listening to Italian when relatives came over.
*Watching my parents dance. My dad could double jitterbug.
*Tree climbin. Thanks HIC
*Learning to drive stick shift in our back field. Ugh
*Being barefoot...still now!
*Games like Spud. Horse (basketball) Who kicked the can. Truth or dare. Always the dare!
*Catching fireflies, being outside till it was pitch black.
*Goin hunting w/ my brothers & dad.
Dogs! We always had dogs.
& yes walking 1/2 mile to bus stop. Uphill. Not both ways. Really!

Horses were my connection to happiness. In all the chaos and turmoil of my life, horses were always my lifeline. I've never really realized that before.

wow (((monte and mudd))) you took me back

mostly i remember nature stuff... walking in the hood topless as a young one, the neighbor "lady" calling mom to complain LOL!!! poor mom! summer nights were the best as a young kid, all the sights and sounds ... truly wonderful! yeah, in the summer climbing trees and building tree-forts and watching as neighbor kids fell from said tree-forts i never did lol ... what fun! we formed a group we called the "granny group" and used to dress up in "old" clothes and ride around on our bikes and we'd sing "the granny group" to the tune of "the brady bunch" to all the "old" people we'd see. haha! the good old days. great thread, rt. i may just well be back ...

I think summer brings the best happy memories. And my best memories were outside of my house it seems. Mostly I happily remember summer weekends at my nana's summer house in the country with all my cousins. playing on the swings, swimming in the lake, big big family dinners with aunts uncles and cousins.

At home in the city... street games like freeze tag, punchball, chinese handball, red light green light, giant step. Hanging out at the corner candy store. Going for egg creams with my grandma and sister.

TN

I obviously have too much time on my hands, but was thinking of summertime memories


*Watermelon & home made pop cycles.
*Freezing veges from garden. Was a huge process.
*Walking barefoot on blk top to get to the community pool when no siblings would carry me. Oww oww Oww!
*Fresh black raspberry pie! & the chigger bites to proove it.
*Making ice cream. Geez that took forever!
*Hanging my hand out the car window to try & catch the long grass as we drove by it.
*Bridge jumping w/o getting caught.
*Hay bale jumping w/o getting caught. The big spiral ones in the farmers field.
*Our scary cold cellar for fruit & veges. Place scared the crap out of me.
Standing under the roof of the front porch to watch Thunderstorms
*Sun tea
*Showering outside. Really!
*Bazooka bubble gum
*Halter tops
*Jump rope
*Skate keys