A few weeks ago, our local newspaper ran several pages of summer programs for children. Some are daily “camps” filled with activities and run all summer. Others are enrichment programs that teach everything from archery to zoology. Times haven’t changed. Working parents need safe “holding stations” for their children, like Marta in Her Mother’s Hope – and her “Summer Bedlam” boys.
Mom enrolled me in “Swim to Live” classes at the local high school. I started out a “pollywog” and ended up in synchronized swimming. When my parents decided my brother and I needed a little culture, Mom enrolled us in a summer music program. My brother was one of the only boys big and strong enough to carry a tuba. I wanted to play saxophone, but ended up with a clarinet. I gave up the clarinet to twirl a baton, and ended up assigned to be drum majorette (because I was taller than the other students). A few years later, I could make my own choices and took an NRA class. I wanted to learn how to use a rifle.
I’m long past the age of needing a “holding station”, though that will come in time, but I have a long list of things I’d still like to learn.
How did you spend your summers?