CHASING DOWN THE MUSE:Days of sun-drenched fun

“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer...” “” Nat “King” Cole

“Vegetables “¦ green beans, squash, tomatillos “¦ garden-fresh “¦ “ The call on the late afternoon’s cooling summer air takes me back across the miles of space and time, back to the relaxed, carefree summer days of youth.

Growing up in inland Southern California, there were plenty of long, sun-drenched summer days to fill. In those days, there were many fewer organized activities and most of us spent long hours seeking fun things to do.

Camp away from home, either church or scouts, took up a week or two. There were visits to grandparents “” one of my favorite things “” for another week. Then, there we were, back at home with time to spare.

It seems mornings were taken up by what activities our parents could find to keep us on some sort of “busy” schedule even in those days. We had swimming lessons at the city’s municipal “plunge.” Some art classes were available. I had my ballet classes with the lovely Catherine Joyce “” hot and sweaty in those days without air-conditioning in many buildings.

But afternoons were all ours. Free-swim at that same city haunt, a matinee movie in town “” 25 cents if you were under 12, if you can believe it “” and maybe a cherry Coke at the Sugar Bowl if we had some extra money. This last was sipped ever so slowly, savoring the heavy sweetness of the syrupy drink.

Some days we would take long, sauntering walks out into the countryside, filling the red wagon we pulled with the treasures that we found. There could be everything from a bird nest fallen from a tree or a shed snakeskin to the bits of detritus tossed at the roadside by humans.

We might lie down in the long, dry grass under a tree for a while or head back home, wanting to build yet another fort in the backyard in which to loll, hidden from the sun and the adults.

Still, even the ease of the days sometimes became boring and by the time August rolled around, we were ready to become entrepreneurial like my young neighbor, Alia, is now.

We would eagerly gather together crates and boxes to set up our stands, where we would sell the homegrown veggies and fruits we had gathered. On some days, the lemons from the backyard tree provided us with the basis for lemonade as well, if our mothers would give up some sugar for sweetening.

In those days, our buyers were more of a captive audience than Alia’s drive-by customers. Neighbors walking to town or visiting each other would stop and purchase our goods, chatting with us as well.

Almost all of them would buy something and our coffers filled with the nickels and dimes. Visions of more matinees or cherry Cokes lit up our minds. Friends stopped by, dropping their bikes on the sidewalk, to chat for a while, to ask how much money we’d made on any particular day or to see if we were ready to go off with them to the city park for a swim....

What a life!

“Tomatillos “¦ cucumbers “¦ “ I am brought back into the moment, into this day. I guess things haven’t really changed all that much.

Alia may have her electronics with her at the corner as she calls out to passing cars, but many things are still the same. Neighbors come outside to see what she has and they stop to chat.

She has much higher prices, of course, and “gourmet purple green beans.” Still....what a life! Ah, summertime.

“Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer “¦ you’ll wish that summer could always be here.” “” Nat “King” Cole

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CHERRIL DOTY is an artist, writer, and creative coach. She can be reached by e-mail at

[email protected] or by phone at (949) 252-3883.