Summer on Idylwood

Mostly barefoot

Looking for four leaf clovers.

Trapping honeybees in glass jars - I do regret the damage to the bees.

The ice cream man drove by in his truck with the ice cream compartment on the rear. He had a loud speaker that played his characters melody over and over again (must have driven him nearly crazy). I added words to the song ‘Hang dong a dilly doodle whip du be A.’ Mom and Aunt Helen would give us our nickels to buy a dreamsicle, fudgesicle, popsicle… If while looking for four leaf clovers or trapping bees, we lost our nickel - it was a world tragedy. We engaged then entire group of kids to try to find the missing nickel.

Shooting bb guns.

Riding bikes. (This became less of a joy once I began to ride professionally {delivering papers).

Having friends over or visiting friends.

Noon ‘til two inside out of the heat. Great time for lunch followed by reading.

Helping take in the laundry.

Watching the fireflies appear at dusk - time to go in.

Running in the mosquito fog behind the fogging trucks. (Probably saturating our lungs with DDT.)

Having a picnic on the picnic table out back.

Helping dad barbecue hamburgers on the barbecue grill he built in the back yard.

Home made ice cream.

Reading in a hammock hung in the trees on the back of the property.

Resting and reading in the cool of the breezeway between sessions with the lawn mower.

Getting a haircut at King’s Barbershop on East Lucas about a half mile from home. Twenty-five cents for a buzz cut, .50 for a flat top. That is where I learned ‘Ira denotidnoc’ by reading the inverted ‘air conditioned’ sign in the picture window of the shop.