Good-morning, kittens & dawgs! Honestly, I’m going to take it easy in Blogosphere…after June. I promise, I promise I’m going to make time for me but when I have posts done or nearly done then my OCD side won’t let me not share it with you. Perhaps I need to lay off the Oreos. The sugar is overloading my system no doubt. Alright, here’s your chance to get to know me a little better with today’s Q&A session. Feel free to lift them from my Cathy’s Chat Prompt page at the top to create your own post. 😉
- What is your most memorable childhood summer? The year I stayed with my uncle and his wife in Columbus, Ohio for the entire summer. That was the first time to spend a long distance away from home. That summer introduced some first for me like my first experience on a rollercoaster (Kings Island) and seeing the Atlantic ocean (Fort Walton Beach Florida). Another big first for me that summer of ’76 I surrendered my heart to Jesus.
- What is your most memorable childhood vacation? My folks didn’t take vacations. The closest we got was visiting my aunt and her family near Williamsburg, Virginia in 1975. Luckily, my folks bought a new car either earlier that year or at the end of the previous year and the AC really came in handy. I remember it being super hot. We swam in the Jamestown River, toured Columbus’ three ships (replicas), and visited a historical wax museum. I’m sure we did other things but that’s all that comes to mind. It was a super fun time!
- What are some of your most memorable summer moments spent with your kids? Aside from the three Maine vacations we took, I think the most magical moments were from our times spent in southern West Virginia on weekend trips to see DH’s parents. They have a fantastic big front yard for us to play crochet, badminton, volley ball, and there’s a basketball hoop. We built outdoor fires to roast wieners and marshmallows over for dinner, then sit around the fire for hours talking, singing, telling stories or catching fire flies. I loved how the smoky wood scent stayed on my skin until I showered and I almost hated to wash away. I can’t help but think of those days every time I smell a wood fire burning now.
- Do you have a pool? If not, would you like to have one? Nope, but I’d love to have a pool. It’s a great way to spend a lazy day in the sun. I think I’d like to have a pool that has a large canopy for UV protection and it would be super cool to have a heated pool for early spring/late summer evening swims. Oh yeah, I mustn’t forget the lights in or around the pool for night swims. 🙂
- Last time you swam in a pool? Whew, that’s a tough one but I think the last time I went swimming was somewhere between 2002-2005. I only remember that because I got water in my ear which led to an inner ear infection that took forever to clear up.
I’m linking up taking a coffee break for some with Random Tuesday Thoughts with Stacy Uncorked and joining Eugenia at BrewNSpew for Tuesday Chatter this morning and you’re invited to come with and let me remind you to visit again tomorrow for not-so Wordless Wednesday.
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It sounds like you’ve had some fun summer memories!
By the way, my computer doesn’t want to come to your website, it says your certificate expired a few days ago and warned me you may be trying to steal my information. Also, as usual, i’m having an awful time getting my comments to even post.
Mimi,
I’m sorry for the problems you’re having. I will look into the issue more thoroughly. I think it has something to do with the SSL certificate which has the ability to switch between http to https for your site and some browsers will experience problems if they do not detect a valid SSL certificate. My host site suggests trying to clear your cookies to see if the error persists. I’m not sure if this is related to your inability to leave comments occasionally but it could. I will have to check that out, too. Thanks for the heads up. Have a good day!
Always nice to learn more about you. I used to get ear infections every summer from swimming in my aunt’s pool.
Ellen,
Yeah, I got frequent ear infections when I was a kid, too. I don’t recall the pool being the biggest culprit as much as it was due to colds or allergies. However, I do recall getting water trapped in my ears a lot which drove me insane!
Sounds like you’ve had some fun summer adventures!
Mimi,
Plans yes but how many we’ll get done is another story. Usually, we find other things to entertain us because of the heat or crowd these attractions draw. There’s a lot we can do within our area and it’s like mini vacation for us every time we venture somewhere new or haven’t been to in forever.
Pools. Growing up there was a membership community pool nearby. Mothers were assigned “gate duty” and for that reason alone my family didn’t join. My mother had other (better) things to do! I went often in high school with friends though, as a paying guest. As an adult I had a pool in apartment and condo complexes, but never used them… not once. I don’t know why not. For years we had a community pool down the street from our house. My kids went all the time, when little I had to go with them. I went in some during the “kid’s break time,” but hated how all the kids were just sitting on the edge of the pool watching and waiting to get back in. I felt under the microscope! My city has one public pool for too many people, and it’s in the worst part of town (which is better than most “worst part of towns” in other towns, but still…). We would rather go to the river 15 minutes away. Although, I’m not the one going in the water.
I’d take a pool, on someone else’s dime! And if that someone else were to take over the upkeep! They are a lot of work. I haven’t been in a real swimming pool in years, probably the late 1980s I don’t even own a suit anymore. Oh, I’ve been swimming since the 80s! Just not a pool pool.
Lisa,
Yes, I can imagine having a pool is a lot of work. When the kids were small, we got a 2-foot deep inflatable pool. It was a chore to keep free of debris and to add chlorine tablets periodically. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long as our neighbor’s very playful Boxer got loose and with his very sharp claws tore punctured it in several places. The kids were heartbroken and I was aggravated because of the hard work we put into putting that thing in place to have that happen. Of course, we couldn’t prove the dog did it so we didn’t say anything. Sometimes you gotta keep the peace instead of making waves.
My family used to travel to Michigan during the summer since that is where my father was raised. I enjoyed it and always dreaded coming home to the heat in FL. There is a pool in our community but I don’t care for public pools. With that said, swimming is the best exercise for anyone.
Eugenia,
If I lived in Florida I think I’d have to insist on getting a home with a pool. It’s way too hot and humid there. Every time I complain about summer weather here I say a special thanks that we don’t live in Florida. lol
What a wonderful summer you had at your uncles house. That rocked.
We don’t have a pool and with California and the water shortages we are glad we don’t. They charge an arm and let for water here.
Love your funnies and thanks for joining in Tuesday Fun.
Have a fabulous day, Cathy. Big hugs. ♥
Sandee,
That was a very fun summer for me. 🙂
Hi, Cathy!
It would be difficult for me to pick the single most memorable summer of childhood because they were all memorable. Perhaps it was the summer of 1958, the first time my family vacationed in a rustic log cabin in the mountains of northern PA. (We went up there again in the summer of 1964.) The cabin was located next to an airstrip and across the lane from a park where they held the annual Woodsman’s Carnival. My eyes popped watching men compete in contests that measured outdoor skills that included chopping down a wooden pole with an ax and cutting through a thick log with a chainsaw. Horses raced to a finish line pulling loads of logs behind them. It was all quite a spectacle. You mentioned the smoky wood scent lingering on your skin after roasting wieners and telling stories around an outdoor fire. I will never forget the aroma of pile after pile of freshly sawed wood chips at the Woodsman’s Carnival. They even had a souvenir shop that sold hunks of wood in various shapes and sizes left over from the contests. The pieces were sanded and lacquered to make sure you didn’t get splinters. I brought home a wedge shaped piece that I used as a doorstop.
When I was ten my dad bought us the largest above ground pool available at the time – 5 feet deep. I spent many hours over many summers swimming and floating on a raft while listening to the local top 40 station on my transistor radio. Great times!
Happy Tuesday to you, dear friend Cathy!
Tom,
My BFF family got an above ground pool one year. I think I was about 10 years old. We couldn’t get enough of being in that thing but we never got in uninvited. That was a lot of fun. The summer of ’76, I spent with my uncle and his wife in Columbus, Ohio. That summer, I spent a lot of time in my auntie’s sister’s pool. I thought that was the berries. I remember I fell asleep laying on a raft listening to Casey Kasem’s Top 40. “Silly Love Song” and “Short People” were big hits at the time. Needless to say, I got burned badly! I went home with a tan but everyone kept saying, that I needed a tan and I argued with my girlfriends that I had one but they didn’t believe me. I never got golden brown like most people. My skin always had a honey sunkissed glow. Today, I have no interest in being out in the sun too long without a purpose like yard work but I take precautions to not get burned. The sun ages the skin and that’s something I can do without.
We have a community pool, but in the 20 years that we’ve lived here I’ve never set foot in that pool. My kids used to go, but I never did nor will my wife. So I guess that means I’ve haven’t been in a pool in over 20 years.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Lee,
I’m not too interested in going into a public pool. People just aren’t very health conscious today as they were 20-30 years ago. It would be nice to have a private pool.