Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

I close my eyes and think of summer's long ago:

I wake early and go outside to find my mother pulling weeds in the flower bed.
Barefooted in the grass, I feel the dew on my feet.
When the milkman delivers the milk we run out to his truck hoping that he will give us a piece of ice to chew.
I lay on my back in the yard watching clouds pass overhead.
My sister, brother and I run up and down the sidewalk.
We join the neighborhood children playing cops and robbers.
I make a skateboard by putting a book on top of my metal skate, because I can sit and ride down the sidewalk that I am too scared to stand and skate down.
I make miniature houses under the apple tree in the backyard. I pretend fairies live there when I leave.
I love to feel the air in my face as I ride my bike down the hill.
We put on our swimsuits and squirt each other with the hosepipe.
I try to avoid stepping on the bumblebees buzzing in the clover that dots the backyard.
I run inside and lay in front of the fan whenever I get too hot outside.
I walk to the library to check out the three books their rules allow. (stupid rule)
I read a lot.
I hang upside down on the swing set pretending I am Tarzan. I try out my yell. It's not very good.
I play games of jacks with neighborhood children.
At dusk we play hide and seek.
My mother calls me home.
I sit on the porch with my parents and siblings after supper. We talk and listen to the night sounds. Sometimes we take a walk through the neighborhood in the cool night air. I love to look in the open windows or doors and see how others live.
I'm sent inside to take my bath. I whistle loudly the whole time. I'm scared to be inside alone. I imagine that if something gets me my parents will notice that I've stopped whistling and will come rescue me. I hurry and finish. Put on my pajamas and run back out onto the porch.
We sleep with the windows open. I can hear the crickets sing. I sleep under the sheet no matter how hot it is. That way I am safe from whatever may live under my bed.
I wake up and start another day.

Memories of my childhood.