Summertime and the livin is Easy

SUMMER!

1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s)
In a word – Strawberries. I just walked by Long’s Farm over on Bogie Lake this week, and their strawberries are so FRICKING aromatic, I thought I had fallen into a big vat of the freshest strawberry jam this side of the Mississippi.

I keep reminding myself I have GOT to pick some up. Everyone loves watermelon, but not me – Give me big juicy, squirt all over your mouth strawberries every day of the week. ESPECIALLY in the summer. Yummmmm….

And Strawberry Chicken Salad from Honey Tree on 14 Mile/M5 -- ohhhhh, the very best salad in all of salad-dom. That raspberry dressing is to DIE for.


2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.)
SO many here – Any 80’s music basically, but Cruel Summer by Bananarama and Night Moves by Bob Seger. Also Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Take The Money and Run by Steve Miller. Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen.

But the ultimate summer song is Cool Change by Little River Band.

3. A childhood summer memory
Playing 4-square with Rick & Aimee in the street until late late or getting all the kids in our neighborhood (and we had a ton!) together for a game of kickball in the street. We usually went towards the end of the block cuz there weren’t many cars in the street there. Gary, the dad of one of the kids, would always pitch. EVERY kid got to play – didn’t matter how young they were.

The outfield was the street fanning out into folks’ yards. The outfielders just placed themselves strategically where they thought they could catch and get you out.

And the bases were just marks on the curb and something on the street for 2nd base. Arguments and Laughter until the sun was going down, and then all the kids begging for one more “at bat” before being called home by all the moms. GOOD TIMES!

4. An adult summer memory
Taking my 6-week old daughter to North Carolina for our first-ever family reunion on my mom’s side. These are people I would see every Christmas as part of our annual holiday road trip down to Louisiana as a kid, but once the cousins got older, we stopped making those trips….it was so nice to be able to see everyone and show off Taylor. The trip was stressful and Taylor was sick the first day there. It was HOT HOT HOT and the roads to the cabin were SO wind-y. And I mean like winding around, not blowing wind…. WAY up in the mountains. I was only 21 and my life had changed hundredfold now, being married and in charge of this little blessing. It was nice to be surrounded by family in such a relaxed atmosphere.

5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities)
Doing something on a boat! We just spent a day on my sister’s rented pontoon boat up on a lake and I *so* miss that! Never had a boat, but enjoyed many trips on friend’s boats learning how to tube and waterski. An afternoon on a lake with friends & family…barbecuing all day, dropping kids off and taking more kids out for turns tubing…hanging my legs off the side of the boat, getting just a little bit wet, soaking in that sun….that is the epitome of The Perfect Summer Day. Who’s got a boat? Want some company?