June 21, 2006

Summers First Day~~~



Greeting on the glorious first day of Summer! This season always brings back so many great memories spent with my grandparents' at their home at the base of the mountains here in Southern California. Papa would get up early 430 am and start his watering of the crops and trees. They had a lovely garden with squash, corn, green beans, tomatoes, okra, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, pumpkins and rhubarb. Papa had peach, plum, pomegranate, apricot and avocado trees. My little sister and I would sleep in the screened in back porch and hear the coyotes and noises of the night. Every morning we would here Mema and Papa rise and greet the day, the porch door would open with a squeak everytime and them slam gently as not to wake us. I could smell the coffee being brewed alongside bacon frying. I could tell when Mema cut open a fresh cantaloupe just picked from their garden, cause the smell wafted to us and its was divine. After we ate breakfast we went out to pick bouquets of flowers for many of Memas' arrangements. Roses, lilacs, zinnias, sweet pea, hollyhocks, and hydrangeas!! The simple garden on a half an acre brought me so much joy and surrounded us with such beauty..a true appreciation for the garden, the Summer, and this season of growing only to have Harvest time right around the corner. I am like her in many ways, the love of the "old" way of doing things.....linens drying on the line, baking from scratch, and rising early to get a start on the day. Its these and many others that ground me in the tough times, makes me long for these times again. But I take these memories with me and they come alive again while i'm in my garden, cutting flowers for arrangements, picking fruit from our trees to make a yummy cobbler. I celebrate this day, and those memories of the days gone by.

8 comments:

Dawn said...

Great pics! I was thinking along the same lines on my post today...first day of summer...

DonnaB said...

What wonderful memories...Thank you for sharing them with us!

Amy said...

lovely flowers, I too have hydrangeas in my garden, they are a bit dormat though now

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

What would we do without memories..those smells and sounds!! I just love them all. Sometimes you can just sit and think and remember all of that once again and makes you feel young all over again..How wonderful. Thanks for sharing today.

Lena said...

This is a charming post and the photos are beautiful!
I grew up in a family very similar in its old fashioned ways of doing things. I miss being with my grandma and her canning, quilting and gardening.

Kelli said...

Summer mornings at your grandparents sound wonderful!! What special memories to have and remember.
The wheelbarrow is just darling and I love the sunflowers against the blue. Welcome to summer!

Saija said...

celebration indeed ... and the flower pics you posted are absolutely lovely!

blessings to you!

Anonymous said...

What a collection of beautiful memories you have - you are very blessed indeed. Love the picture of the sunflowers.. I love sunflowers.. I had a sunflower bouquet at my wedding. Thanks for reminding me of one of my beautiful memories too :)