Saturday, June 25, 2011

what are you gonna remember?


as i said earlier, the lazy days of summer have begun. i have this melancholy sense that this is the last summer that sabin will truly play. she's a real tween now, but has enough of the child still in her to run and swing and do cartwheels across the yard. i so don't want to see that go.

she has a friend here from her old school where we used to live. they're having a great time together and i haven't heard a word of irritation between them (tho' it's early in their week together).

i suspect that she will remember these golden summer days...of getting to go down to the creek unsupervised with air mattresses and float downstream. of synchronized cartwheels across the lawn. of chasing chickens and trying to shoo them into their new enclosure. of watching YouTube on the iPad while snuggled up together in a nest of blankets and pillows that only two ten-year-olds can make. eating æggesnaps (egg yolk and sugar stirred into creamy, decadent smoothness). staying up late and giggling. getting a driver's license at legoland. spending the day at the beach. teaching bunnies to jump. the smell of freshly-mown hay. picking wildflower bouquets.

all of these things still done with childlike abandon.  no worries, no cares, just being in the moment.

there's a lot i could learn from that.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think my children really played until they were out of grade school (6th grade). After that they were into being teenagers with a passion.

Still, you see them playing, just differently. It was a time for board games and independence and learning music.

It's wonderful that you're capturing her summer. Maybe now she will remember it.

Pia K said...

lovely sentiment both in words and picture. i remember having friends to stay at our country cottage when i was a child, some i got along well with all week, others not. these days i only remember the fun and no-worries feeling of those summers long lost though. in parts it does suck to be a grown up...

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Bittersweet, isn't it?

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Ah, this really makes me want to get out that huge piece of styrofoam in my garage and float down the creek again! May all of Sabin's days be filled with joy and wonder this summer!

Anonymous said...

i often think, i dont want my babies to grow up. but i love the way they are growing up everyday.

Unknown said...

lovely....smiles...

kikiclark said...

What a beautiful post! It sounds like your daughter is having a dream childhood, such a wonderful place to grow up!

celkalee said...

I have a dear friend who has chronicled every year of her daughters lives in scrapbooks. Not just scrapbooks but super-scrapbooks. Recently, at the youngest daughters first baby shower the books were on display with the gifts. What an absolutely wonderful tribute to a loving mother and her daughter. This photo reminds me of one in that book of the two sisters, lying in the grass with their dogs. Beautiful.

suzanna said...

this stage was just a few years ago for me, yet it feels like a lifetime! it is so great that she is appreciating her youth. the pressures of high school leave me longing to go back sometimes! beautiful post
xo

missing moments said...

Wonderful capture in photo and words .... I still remember my childhood summer days... such innocence and freedom!

Anne said...

That is the sort of picture (and post) that Sabin will no doubt cherish when she gets older. Well captured, well said.