THROW ON THE rose-tinted glasses there and take a trip down memory lane.
Wasn’t summer as a child just better? All the expensive holidays in the world can’t compare to the stuff we did as kids.
1. Poking sticks in the melting tar on the road
Or, indeed, muck. Just because.
2. Waiting for a Mr Freeze to melt
Then slurped the whole syrupy mush back in one gulp. Delicious AND refreshing.
3. Developing an obsession with a sport
For example – determinedly hitting a tennis ball against the back wall for the duration of Wimbledon, or following the World Cup like your life depended on it.
4. Water fights
To this day, has anyone discovered a better way to cool off? Definitely not.
The kids who protested too much about getting their clothes wet always got soaked the most. That was the rule. The other rule was ‘Beware of the kid who owns a SuperSoaker.’
5. Attending summer camp
You’d waited all year to leave school for summer, then you excitedly went back (or to another school) for summer camp. You might get to go kayaking!
6. Digging a big hole on the beach
Why? We’ll never know. It was just imperative to start digging and digging as soon as you arrived.
7. Eating a sandy sandwich
All that digging made a kid hungry. Sadly, no matter how hard you tried, sand always got in under the ham in your sandwich. See also: Sandy 99s.
8. Returning home only for food
Otherwise you were outside morning, noon and night with your friends, playing curbs, tag, tip the can…all the greats.
9. Getting in touch with nature
Picking blackberries, fishing for pinkeens, helping to foot the turf – stuff you’d probably complain about having to do now, but back then, there was nothing better.
10. Visiting the same place on holidays every year
Mosney, Trabolgan, Bundoran. Camping or renting a mobile home.
Most of the time there was spent hanging around the amusements, eating ice cream. Bliss.
11. Feeling like summer would last forever
Weeks and weeks of freedom, stretched out before us. Weren’t we so lucky?
