Posted on 8 Comments

Yellow light bulbs and ice cream sodas

It’s funny the way memory works.  The way images and feelings are tucked away safely in little pockets of the mind, and often forgotten until the right combination of music or smells or words brings them out once again.

Me, my grandparents & my sister

I hadn’t thought much about the summer weeks we used to spend at my grandparents’ house in the country, until I read Stefani’s post tonight.  And then I couldn’t stop thinking about them.

My mind is aflutter with remembrances of the ice cream sodas my grandfather used to make, and of drinking them on a dark summer night, each of us in our own rocking chair on the screened in front porch.  The house was nestled on the side of a steep hill overlooking the main street into town, and we would watch the cars go by on the street below, drink our sodas and stay up late.  There was a yellow light bulb on the porch.  At least, I think there was.  It seems an odd thing now, but I am fairly sure it existed.  When I think of those nights, they are bathed in yellow light.

And there are crickets chirping, much as there are crickets chirping outside my window right now, at two o’clock in the morning.

I tried to fall asleep an hour ago, but my mind is active with happy thoughts of grandparents and cousins, and three generations playing UNO around a big dining room table.  I’ve had too much caffeine and it’s enabled me to hatch one daft plan after another, with the aim of recreating those special summer family memories for a new generation.  I am sad for my sons that they don’t have their own yellow porch lights and ice cream sodas, and I’m consumed suddenly with a desire to fill their childhoods with large family get-togethers.

Thing is, I don’t need to plan these events right now, at two o’clock in the morning, do I?

No, I really don’t.  And I hope that by writing this down, I have given my mind permission to let it go for the time being, and to settle in for the night, secure in the knowledge that everything I need to remember is written down right here, ready to be revisited at a later time.  Preferably long after the sun has come up.

If I could, I’d illustrate this post with snapshots from my memory.  I see them clear as day, and yet, they’re so utterly impossible to share.

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH!

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Posted on 8 Comments

8 thoughts on “Yellow light bulbs and ice cream sodas

  1. Polka Dot Cottage: Yellow light bulbs and ice cream sodas http://bit.ly/E43aY

  2. good morning, slept well? being an expert and book author on aromatherapy-issues I was asked for some essential oils to help against my step brother’s sleep problems. I think writing a post like yours about those lovely memories looks like a good remedy too!
    and aw…. all those lovely books you always show… I got a book-vouchure but cannot decide which book to choose, I guess we share the same passion for those beautiful craft-books. but we don’t get them here in ireland and the shipping would be way too expensive (sometimes more than the books). so i enjoy them through your lovely blog – one of my favourites!

    1. Good morning! It did help me to write those things down – it freed my mind to let them go. Sometimes I lie awake going over and over things in my mind in an effort not to forget them, when really it would be so much better to get out of bed and write them down!

      Yes, we are really so lucky over here with the abundance of lovely books. I’m glad that you can enjoy little bits of them vicariously!

  3. Oh the fleeting thing that is sleep. My biggest summer memory is fireflies and lots of ’em. Thanks for jogging that.

    1. And that, in turn, reminds me of punks. We used to light them and sit in the yard “smoking.” And of Night Tag. That was fun.

      I feel a “summer memories” post coming on 🙂

  4. I’m sitting here thinking of long summer days spent playing with my cousins in the field by my grandparents house, it was in the city but they had a big field at the back of their house. We used to cycle there and play and come back after dark. It seems funny thinking about that now, I grew up in the UK and I’m remembering it on a cold winter evening in Auckland, New Zealand where I now live. It makes me a little homesick and also very happy.
    .-= See Emma’s latest blog post: Life on the Island =-.

  5. […] As always, UNO is multi-generational fun at it’s best […]

  6. […] was pretty lucky in the grandparent department, I must say.  I had all four of them until I was twenty years old, and here it is twenty years after that, when I say goodbye to […]

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