1. I have an early memory of going to a small town near Bar Harbor with my mom and her best friend and her kids. We stayed in a little cabin for a week and I could walk down the road to the tiny little library. I loved to read (still do!) so being near a library was a good thing. The librarian there suggested I read James and the Giant Peach. I thought he was nuts but he promised me I would like it. I did and he was right. We walked on the rocks so much my feet got callouses.
One small aside--one of the boys of my mom's best friend is now famous for his visual effects work on multiple movies such as Avatar, King Kong, Lord of the Ring series and X-Men. Eric Saindon. Yah, I knew him when he was 10.
2. Catching fireflies in big mason jars and watching them blink. Then letting them go.
3. Going fishing with my best friend (around age 10) and her dad way up north and in the middle of nowhere. We would take a canoe down all these tiny streams and catch trout. One day I saw a frog on the shore. Her dad saw me and knew what I was thinking. I'll never forget this. He told me, "if you catch that frog, I'm not helping you take it off the hook". I caught it anyway and spent the next 20 minutes trying to take the hook out while not ripping out his entire digestive system. Which is what happened. I never caught a frog with a fishing pole again. Good life lessons.
4. Working for 3 summers in Bar Harbor at the Bar Harbor Inn. I lived right above the restaurant for $25/week. I was 19, had no bills, no cares and waitressed and made a bunch of money. It was one of the best times in my life.
5. When Hurricane Bob came to Maine in 1991, all the restaurants closed in Bar Harbor where I waitressed. So what did a bunch of 20 year olds do? We bought wine and cheese and drove to Thunder Hole and watched the hurricane. Smart. It was awesome though. How we didn't die, is a major mystery to me.
We could not get down to this part of the park because it was covered with water.
6. Rides on our boat home from the harbor on a full moon night. Glorious.
7. The joyous faces of my kids while on the boat.
8. Relaxing at my parent's camp.
9. Ice cream every night. Just because.
10. Going to the beach every day before work (as a waitress) and getting the most bad ass tan ever. And probably skin cancer to boot.
3 comments:
Love how all your best memories are local. I hope my son can say the same about where he is growing up too! Bar Harbor is stunning.
I used to tan and i still have ice cream just because. We would have a great summer if we were neighbors :)
Those are wonderful memories! I was just thinking how much I hate that it's getting hot, but you reminded me that there are lots of good things about summer too. My best summer memory was the trip to Florida with a bunch of extended family the summer after I graduated from high school. We all stayed in a giant beach house and floated down a cold spring-fed river on inner-tubes. My cousin Matt found 1,000 shark's teeth.
Sounds like you took advantage of your youth with the summers you were a waitress. It sounds wonderful. I like how your list starts with how you were a kid and leads into the summers with your children.
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