Summer Floats

IMG_6560 Once upon a summer a group of teen-aged boys decided to construct a raft. Of course they could have gone out and bought one, but they thought creating it themselves would be more fun. And because they were so excited to float down the ditch banks that very afternoon, they didn't want to spend too much time thinking about the best way to go about it.

They grabbed the biggest boards in sight and had at it.. At one point the mother of one of the boys who loves details asked…"Don't you think the raft would look better if you tied the ropes underneath the boards and then put the barrels…." But before she could complete her creative design thoughts the boys cut her off, "Hey this isn't about LOOKS, this about getting the raft on the water and having fun now. We are in a hurry don't you see?" The mother smiled and nodded her head.

Summer fun begins with freedom to do your own thing. IMG_6424

IMG_6488 and rough housing and goofing off and letting the day slip by without homework…nor set designs on how to do things the best way. Summer and childhood, may they be long, may they be filled with dirt, torn jeans, baseball caps, sweat and tall glasses of root-beer floats. I mean a raft that floats.

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The raft…it hasn't yet managed to stay above water. The boys have torn it apart and added on and torn it apart again. They are thinking on the lines on inner tubs…

Meanwhile in between creating, sinking and pulling the drowned raft out of the ditch bank… they have taken to gliding on a rubber mat. IMG_6562

Their exuberance has been a prayer answered: Hope has set sail and it is floating around our home comforting the heavy hearts.



Comments

30 responses to “Summer Floats”

  1. Corey, I can feel, by the mood of your last posts, that a breath of young and fresh air is blowing your way…!! Have a great summer!
    Isabel

  2. Anna Bluebell

    This post takes me back to my childhood summers when the sun always shone…….

  3. Marie-Noëlle

    Ah… Surfing on time !!!
    Lucky them !!!

  4. good to hear that the healing process has started. take care erika

  5. Ah youth they are healing balms
    I miss our children living here……..
    You are truly blessed.
    Love your postings and you~
    Kisses

  6. Corey,
    Thanks for the reminder….I’m 14 for the moment and having a great summer! 😉
    rel

  7. I love your summer stories. You capture the beauty so well. And I see the healing.

  8. Sarah N.

    Are there any updates on Eva and Mattieu?

  9. Leslie Garcia

    Dear Corey,
    Your wonderful post reminds me of a song that I heard back in the 70’s when I was a teenager…” Do you remember days not so very long ago…when the world was run by people twice your size? The days were full of laughter, and the nights were full of stars..and when you grew tired, you could close your eyes….” I hear that now in my head. I think John Denver sang it. Oh..those lovely days of summer…they’re here!
    Peace, Leslie

  10. Oh yes Corey. This is the summer in the country. Find your own fun, make your own fun. Be creative and write your own adventures. So many kids are so overly booked into structured activities they don’t know the joy of just hanging out and making things happen.
    It’s funny you should post the pics of the boys and their slip and slide. The kids across the road had slip and slide party yesterday using something they concocted themselves out of heavy black plastic and some weights on the side to hold the whole thing together.
    – Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

  11. Good clean summertime fun! My teenagers, even still, like to grab a double roll of heavy plastic, add water and you have water slip-sliding fun. I love to catch to glee on their faces as they try to keep from falling. Then they will race each other, laughing to hard to stay upright.
    One of my boys is in India this summer making a documentary about the Tibetan Monks and their journey. He is traveling with a Monk, and will talk with others recording their stories. I will miss a summer without him, but know this is a lifetime experience not to miss.
    I will show your pictures to my other kids to remind them how fun summer can be. I love the expressions on the cousins faces!
    The boys look like they are having a summer to remember. I hope you have a sweet, breezy summer. Oh, and take time to nap on the flower bed.*

  12. You are feeling your dad, kissing your cheek this summer!! Watching the kids… there is just something about hanging out and just messing around during the summer. That is a very nice thing.
    We just put up the backyard pool, the grandkids come over most afternoons and we sit in it every day. Best moment of all, my 16yr old coming out to splash and play as well.

  13. How idyllic these summer experiences, making lasting memories, and yes, healing hearts. Pure joy!

  14. P.S. …and how precious that the dog couldn’t resist being part of the rough-housing! Makes me grin from ear to ear.

  15. This post makes me want to go out and do something just for fun, I may just do that! Thanks for the inspiration!

  16. There’s nothing like a bunch of rowdy boys to chase away anything that seems like hopelessness. I pray your mother is watching them, knowing that your father lives on in each one of their hearts. He does. You can bet each moment they’re floating and sinking and gliding he’s right there with them – just behind each smile.

  17. At least they are having fun trying!!
    That is half the fun!
    So glad their summer is off to a great start.
    Rosemary

  18. I hope all this is helping splash away the tears . . .

  19. Oh, the joy and energy of youth is so healing. There really is something so special about a bunch of rambunctious boys, I love it! That is what they are made to do. I can hear a bit more lightness to your words, and hope that is translating to your heart. Have a wonderful day, and as always, thank you for sharing.

  20. Corey,
    Having the boys there and watching them enjoy their summer is just what you needed. I hope that it continues to heal you.
    Lorene

  21. I just KNOW that your dad is looking down and seeing this new generation of Amaro males doing exactly what he did at their age, what their fathers did at their age too. I’m betting that your dad is laughing at the mom who tried to offer a bit of creative advise and thought of all the other moms that weren’t paid attention too either. After all, where would have been no fun in that? You are all off to a great summer. Can’t wait to see the bed set up in your mom’s garden. She DID get it didn’t she????

  22. I live with boys in the country and there is something special about their excitement for summer and just letting their hearts soar. I can see that they are bringing breaths of healing back to your hearts.
    love and blessings

  23. I miss my portuguese sun, here in London… And those photos just remind me of my sunny portuguese childhood!!!
    Lovely, beautiful, well living summers! Californian Willows is more alike Portugal than we could think afterall!… And the grass and pastages also turn in a yellow goldy shade.
    It’s wonderful to see those boys having fun! May their glee pass on to you, dear Corey.
    Big hug*

  24. That’s two things that float; rafts and HOPE.
    You are starting to sparkle again….!!!!!
    xoxo

  25. Elaine L.

    My father grew up near Fresno (central Cal) and had an identical country lifestyle. When I was young, I loved hearing his stories about his summer fun, which included building a raft with his brother and floating down the river for a week, fishing and stopping to make camp along the bank each night. They were only 10 and 12 years old.
    ~elaine~

  26. They may not yet have a raft, but they’re still making quite a splash! Enjoy the antics – and maybe take a cooling slide too? It looks like a lot of fun!

  27. Cynthia G

    Cher Corey
    It’s comforting to hear that summer has arrived
    to your family home ,that your spirits are on the
    mend and the essence of hope is back on the
    table .Like the season’s of time.. healing moves
    in harmony with life….
    I love hearing about your mothers “Garden of Love”
    Where all the seeds are well planted……………
    The rusty old bed is a fantastic idea for midnight
    star gazing and of course summer naps……..
    I got to see the last edition of Victoria”Encore Bravo”
    Cyntia

  28. Wow…here I am sitting on the banks of the “Mighty Mississippi”…and you talk about boys…rafts…etc. We are still on the road and are at a place called “Tom Sawyer’s Mississippi River RV Resort”. I know I would not let my son launch a raft on THIS river! 🙂 Think Tom Sawyer really did that? 🙂
    Sounds like your summer is off to a good start!
    Blessings on you today!

  29. Great story, made me smile!
    Please tell those boys that there once was a girl who, together with her brothers, spent childhood summer after childhood summer figuring out a way to build a raft that would actually float down the river (like Tom Sawyer’s). They never figured it out, but they loved trying, again and again. Those boys rafted down the big river in a rubber boat, adults by then, happy that as children none of their floats actually made it out into the dangerous waters, as tempting as they were back then.

  30. Corey, you’ve captured the wild, reckless, get-in-the-middle-of-any-bit-of-scraping nature of Jack Russells perfectly! This picture really made me smile.
    Amalee

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