Summer in the South

Summer in the South



Summer in the South has different feel than any other place on Earth. The air is so thick with humidity that you can actually feel the weight of it as you step outside a door.  It is perfumed lightly with the scents of honeysuckle and magnolias, a combination that no air freshener company in the world has yet to duplicate. Everything slows down and the pace of an already sedate area becomes even slower. Even the buzz of the flies seems to slow and the bees seem to hang in the air as they lazily journey from flower to flower. This is the time to sit and sip a tall glass of sweet tea and leisurely fan with whatever is handy.

Summer in the South is about fellowship and friendship. It is girls in traffic stopping shorts and barely there tops with guys in cutoff jeans and little else but sweat and dirt. They stand along the road with hand-lettered signs pointing to car washes to earn money for church camps. Everyone gathers later in the day to clean off with a dip in the local creek and laugh about the day. Afterwards they will wrap up in old quilts and build a fire to ward off the mosquitos. It is a gentle end to a productive day.



Summer in the South is about gatherings. It is about family getting together with grandma in the kitchen. Grandpa takes the men and all the children under the age of 16 to the local catfish pond to catch a mess of fish to bring back later. Buckets full of fish caught on cane poles are brought back to the house to be skinned and fried. The moms and grandma have been busy making gallons of coleslaw and potato salad along with platters heaped with hush puppies, fresh cut onions, and ripe sliced tomatoes. After supper there will be coolers filled with fresh picked watermelon. As the sun sets, the air is filled with the sound of laughter and catching up along with the whirr of ice cream churns as they make gallons of the sweet confection. This is how family reunions happen suddenly.

Summer in the South is about letting time slow down. For many of us it is images of enjoying the mornings in the garden, rope swings over the lake in the afternoon and a picnic of cold sandwiches and chips in the evening. Time is spent watching fireflies dance across the grass and hearing the chorus of croaks and chirps of tree frogs and katydids. Afternoon thunderstorms send everyone scurrying for the house and watching in awe as the trees are whipped about like mere blades of grass. Everyone oohs and ahs at the magnificent light show that the storm puts forth. After it is has gone the air is abuzz with activity and smells of crushed pine and clean rain.

The kids are all out of school and it is time for everyone to be free and enjoy what the day has to bring. So grab that old inner tube and your old pair of cutoffs and lets run down to the swimming hole. After all, it is summer.