The month of June has slipped away and already July is almost half over. My, how time flies! Soon the summer will be gone and it will be back-to-school time. We've enjoyed the June days, fleeting as they were. On the rare days when we had no event away from home, there were usually housekeeping chores or yard work to catch up on. We certainly have no time to be bored around here.
Summer seemed longer when we were youngsters. Joyce Hifler, writing in her column "Think on These Things," commented on this once. "Ahead of us are the long and wonderful summer days -- if we make them that way," she mused. "When I was a child, summer was interminable. There was no end to the hours I could spend in the sun, play in the woods, wander up the rock-bottom stream that ran through our place to have a solitary picnic of crackers and an orange. Life was grand and the hours were filled with thought and play and plans."
"Now that same number of hours are before me and I wonder if I can do them the same justice," she continued. "Can I learn again to feel the good earth under my feet? To be curious about the least thing? To see beauty and meaning in every petal of every flower and to look with wonder on the hummingbirds and butterflies? If I can recapture even a little of that time, I will never lack for energy and inspiration."
Ah, if only we could succeed in looking at the world through a child's eyes again. We sometimes get a glimpse of the workings of the young mind when we share activities with the younger relatives. We took grandson Matthew to the fishing derby on Sulphur Day, and again this year he had no luck. He said he had fun even though the fish didn't seem to be hungry. My sister's grandson Haydan recently had a dream come true when he had his face painted like his favorite rodeo clown and got to accompany him into the arena.
Reading has always been one of my favorite ways to spend the summer, so I've been doing a bit of that lately. I signed up for the library's adult summer reading program and have logged a few entries into their drawing. I've recently completed an autobiography of a man who grew up on a farm three miles northwest of Decatur, and a guide to cat behavior. I"ve read the thoughts of former president Jimmy Carter in "Living Faith" and am now delving into Bill Clinton's "Giving." I have an inspirational book by Wayne Dyer, a fiction book with a quilter as a main character, and "Charles Kuralt's America" on the stack waiting beside my chair. I hope to get through them all in the next few weeks.
In the last few days of June, I sat in on one of the library's Teen Tuesday events and enjoyed the movie night watching "Night at the Museum, Secret of the Tomb." The next day my friend Cela treated me to a delightful lunch at El Bohemio. We started off with guacamole prepared at our table and, after the main course, split a sopapilla topped with ice cream and red raspberries and drizzled with chocolate sauce. As an extra bonus, she brought me a carton of eggs.
July started off with a bang, both literally and figuratively, with fireworks banging all around the neighborhood. I enjoyed breakfast with area Lions at Golden Corral in Rogers on the first and returned to town in time to drop by the library book sale. Jim and I watched the city's fireworks display at home that evening, and we joined son Joe and his family for a cookout and fireworks at his home on Monday. Joe grilled chicken thighs and smoked sausage, Heather added her tasty baked beans and pasta salad and there were chunks of juicy watermelon for dessert.
The annual Hootens Arkansas football preview is out, with the Gravette Lions rated fourth in their conference in the coaches poll and our neighbor Gentry in the next slot. Practices are already starting around the area and, in just a few short weeks, the 2017 season will begin and we'll be spending most of our Friday nights at a football stadium somewhere. We wish the Lions a most successful season and hope to be attending some playoff games at the end of the schedule.
Susan Holland is a longtime resident of Benton County and a reporter for the Westside Eagle Observer. She can be reached by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 07/12/2017