Summer Adventures: Now and Then
My daughter left this week for a summer "experience" in Costa Rica, including community service, ziplining, and surfing. My summer experiences as a youth consisted of hanging out in a concrete school yard in Queens, fumbling make-out sessions with a boy in the next grade, and working part-time as a telemarketer for my friend's mother. Hmmm...which sounds like more fun? (By the way, many of these folks are now my Facebook Friends...I hope you'll read and comment!)
I'm not at all bitter about my lack of international travel and horizon expansion. Summers were fun and relaxing. In fact, I did get to go away in 1973 -- attending Cornell's Summer Session after my junior year in high school. However, I recall very little structure or adult supervision of any kind. We lived in an age of few organized "programs." The whole point of summer back then was to hang out, bake our skin in the sun (for which we would pay for in mid-life, with annual skin cancer screenings and age spots), wander aimlessly, make some money, and misbehave. Did our parents even know what we were doing?
If I look back at the summer activities of my youth and try to give them formal "program" names (like today's summer activity organizers do), they might be as follows:
- The Queens Olympics Sports Camp: Train to be a professional-level Potsy (a form of hopscotch) player, crash bikes into each other on the sidewalk, spin around until you get dizzy and fall down, and roll down the hill until your clothes are covered with grass stains. No special equipment or training required. Refresh at the end of the day with a big glass of non-nutritional Kool-Aid or Fizzies. (Note: Some activities -- like Double Dutch jumprope and Red Rover may be dangerous and resullt in injuries or nausea or taunting by other athletes.)
- The Turnpike Tour! Walk the colorful street of Union Turnpike, buy a slice of pizza from a local vendor, and hang out with other great teens. The day ends with a rousing game of bowling at the aptly-named Utopia Lanes! The deluxe tour includes a walking excursion through Fresh Meadows (where the cool kids live) and a view of the first real neighborhood high-rise, known as "The 20-story Building."
- Chill Out! Wait eagerly with friends for the melodic sound of the ice cream truck. Discuss and debate whether Candy Center Crunch is better than Chocolate Eclair and why Good Humor is a better brand than Bungalow Bar. Learn how to count change.
- Parks, Corners, Playgrounds, and Beaches...Just Hangin' Out! Discover the myriad joys of sitting on grass, curbs, and concrete. Each participant gets a bright pink Spalding ball, to bounce against a wall, sidewalk, or friend's back...the possibilities are endless. If someone can get access to a car, the adventure includes a trip to Jones Beach (West End 2).
- Let's Be Bad! (for older kids). Learn cool tricks from your peers...like smoking menthols, drinking at Chinese restaurant bars (no ID required)...and buying day-glo posters and bongs at head shops.
Ah yes, it was a simpler time. No tuition. No packing list or duffles. No websites featuring pictures of our summer activities (which is actually a good thing).
What are YOUR summer memories? Feel free to add them here! And listen to some of these nostalgic tunes to get in the mood...
Summer in the City by the Loving Spoonful (video: a personal favorite)
Hot Fun in the Summer Time (video)
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