Today, with summertime heat in the 100s again, it reminded me of the high temperatures of my childhood summers.

It’s late summertime.

And I’m remembering being outside

in the day’s 105-degree hot, sweltering air

with our grandmother and us girls

picking morning-glory flowers,

making clover-linked bracelets and playing chase.

My mother, grandmother, and big sister

all wore sleeveless summer dresses

dressed in bright, summer yellows

and green-patterned hand-sewn aprons.

But we wore our short-shorts

and showed our bare-belly tops.

With full-blown gramma’ beads

and dripping sweat pouring down our arms,

Maudie would yell for us to stop and take a break.

Mary Rose came out the back door,

with great fanfare,

carrying a bulbous blue-flowered pitcher,

and parked it on a large metal table beside us.

It held a stack of chocolate chip cookies, too.

Maudie had made us ice-cold drinks!

Guess what?

Fresh sweet lemonade had been hand-made from market yellow lemons

by squeezing out those juicy lemons on Grandma Ford’s iron juicer.

And of course, we added lots and lots

of white CH cane sugar from Momma’s blue-willow sugar bowl!

Katy and I felt so special,

with the ladies of the family all sitting outside in the backyard.

Gathering in the cool summer shade

underneath the old mulberry tree, hanging full of black-purple fruit

which had stained our bare feet and hands!

Everyone talked about their day —

And after hearing their laughter-filled stories, we made ready to go inside

to take mother’s required afternoon naps.

We always slept on Grandmama’s

hand-quilted cotton pallets

spread out on our living room hardwood floors.

We ran to be the first one underneath a large floor fan,

which was trying its darnedest to blow hot air on us below.

After landing, we often sneaked up

to turn on a side switch and start our secret weapon,

a stuffed, straw-sided watercooler, hanging outside the house.

Awwww, cool water-filled air poured over us,

with spits and sprinkles, and we felt water fall on our faces and toes too.

We were soon fast asleep,

taking our high-summertime afternoon naps.