Golden as the Sun

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Have you ever played along the canal banks…barefoot? Have you ever played tag with a mud ball? Have you ever spent a summer in the country where the only thing you had to worry about was how many days were left of your summer vacation?

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Do you remember a summer of wide open spaces, cousins galore, & running around in your swimsuit the entire day? A summer where you could run and play from the moment you woke up until the night sky waved you inside? Do you remember feasting on watermelon, corn on the cob with gobs of butter and your Va's homemade cookies?

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A summer where your heart healed because you relived the footsteps of your past, because you soaked up a life time of memories for tomorrow… because you simply stood on the land that made you who you are?

Have you ever felt summer hug you, telling you, "You're free, you're young, you're alive!" And you think it will never be better than this moment?

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 Oh Sacha, when you become a man will you your children have a summer like yours? Will you tell them how you and your cousins coated yourselves in mud and sat along the canal, in the 100 degree heat, proclaiming pure happiness?

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Sacha as summer comes to an end will you recall these moments until they become as golden as the sun?

….Of course you will! Now run along, tomorrow awaits you.



Comments

38 responses to “Golden as the Sun”

  1. ahh… this post puts a smile on my face and makes me remember many childhood memories… climbing the tree in my front yard and riding my bike endlessly up the hill in my street and flying back down as fast as I could. Playing in my neighbours cubby house and hiding in there during a storm. Swinging on the willow tree in my back yard… so many memories. Yes, I think Sacha will remember them, just as you have helped me remember mine 🙂

  2. I feel like having a Country Time lemonade right now.
    I know you don’t watch TV, but this was like their commercials.

  3. You are all so lucky to be able to share summers like that in the country.

  4. What a beautiful, beautiful post. It eases my heart to know that some children still have those kinds of summers. We never had canals to swim in, but we had a rope swing in the hayloft, slid down grassy hills on waxed cardboard, and we played WATERMELON tag in the lake! Thank you for the lovely memories.

  5. I’m sure he’ll remember and I’ll bet he will try to provide the same for his family.
    I just took my GD and her friend to the mts. for a few days. I hope we made some wonderful memories too.
    Darla

  6. Corey, how blessed you are to have such a rich life on 2 continents!
    -maria

  7. The memories he created this summer will last him a lifetime. When he’s old and gray they will be his warm comfort.
    I’m so glad he spent the summer out in the country. There seems to be such a disconnect with the outdoors. I rarely see kids in this area outside creating fun.
    – Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

  8. I don’t doubt for one second that Sacha will remember his glorious childhood summer days. Surely these rich experiences will remain in the very marrow of his bones and depths of his heart. It thrills me that children can still experience such pure fun and joy…and appreciate it, too.

  9. You have captured well the true bliss of a childhood summer. And your photos make make your words even more poignant. Your son will always be grateful.

  10. I want to be them.

  11. Yes, Corey, I do have those golden summer memories. Mine are farm memories also, spending my summers on my grandmothers farm. My memories of mud include pigs who rooted up my playhouse under a big sprawling oak tree, watermelon seed spitting contests with my cousins, and swimming in the icy cold Buffalo River. As the years go by the memories seem more vivid and precious, they do take on that golden glow, so yes, he too will remember. I think he will mostly remember the great mother that taught him how to savor every moment and live life to the fullest, finding fun around every corner, and to do it with joy!

  12. Makes me want to go back to my youth…I remember those days in Capay Valley…swimming in Cache Creek…running through knee deep mud in fruit tree groves…and sunburn! 🙂

  13. Of course he’ll remember. He has a mother who has recorded every moment in photos. You are amazing. What a gift for him and all the cousins.

  14. Hopefully Sacha can give his children the same wonderful summers you have give him and his sister. If they don’t remember you will be the one to tell all the stories of summers in Willows…maybe even accompany them on a few to show them how a true farm girl lives. Sacha have a safe trip home. You too Corey! I can hear your bed calling you! LOL

  15. Makes us all want to go back and try that again.
    Rosemary

  16. Yes, I remember eating all the watermelon and corn on the cob I could possibly eat. Running through the apple orchards in Sebastopol and crawling through the dirt with cousins. Laughing without a care in the world. Ahhh memories! Every child should have those experiences.

  17. I remember at my dad’s ranch in Montana, swimming in the creek, playing in the barn, chasing the horses…
    And in Washington where I live, walking across the train tracks to the wildlife refuge that was behind our house. Hours of wandering…
    Has Sacha’s cousins ever come to France?
    Have a safe trip home!

  18. Ah, what fun! Your posts always bring a smile to my face.

  19. You sure can conjure up an image! Now I have to run along, work awaits me. 🙁

  20. Then again Corey… Nostalgy heat me! Your word soaked my memories! A good nostalgy, full of joy!

  21. Lucky Sacha! And lucky you, to document these moments with such photo treasures!
    I feel lucky to have memories like these, and hope for the same for my children!

  22. So glad to see that the kids are enjoying the freedoms summer, where imagination still takes precedence over gadgets that are wired (or even wireless now).
    Is it just me, or has Sacha grown taller this summer?

  23. christine

    bliss …

  24. We did such things growing up in Central California only along with mud ball fights, our fun included rotten tomato fights! It usually ended with garden hoses cleaning up the tomato-ey farm!

  25. I’m smiling as I remember summer days spent with my great grandparents in South Dakota (far from our life in CA). Blissful popsicles eaten under spreading trees, fishing in streams, finding the old outhouse (home to the most gorgeous lilac TREE), nosing through the basement filled with preserves. As a writer I store up (and always have) to ponder later and later and later. Memories of good things bubble to the surface and tickle my fancy. You have added a delightful smile to my summertime memories by sharing yours. Thank you, sweet friend. I’m off to make some more memories with my kiddos. ; )

  26. Your record of these years is such a delight to see. It all, so much, has the look of times gone by. It is nice to know that these man-child summer joys still happen and so gleefully.

  27. What a priceless way to pass a summer!

  28. What a beautiful post. Reminds me of my childhood summers in the country. Thoughts of those days tug at my heart. Thank you for reminding me.

  29. What fabulous memories from past summers Sacha will have
    Alison

  30. Oh, how wonderfully poignant. So much beauty in your lives along with the bittersweet. I am quite sure that he will be searching for this perfect summer the rest of his life.

  31. Thank you. You could not know how timely this is for me. Just…Thank you.

  32. Corey, Just looking at the photos bring back so many memories but it also reminds me that down south we were always being mindful of the rattlesnakes and moccasins. I don’t know if you have ever spent much time in the south but there are plenty of dirt roads and things can, and do sometimes move slowly but it is hot and we have snakes! It was a trip down memory lane to see the dirt path but I shudder at the thought of jumping in a canal for fear of a moccasin. I hope one day you get to come visit some of your blogging friends in the south (USA). I have the feeling that you will like it very much.

  33. Wow what a beautiful post. Memories are so precious!

  34. Those pics are beautiful. I can smell the mud, feel the sun, and hear the laughter.

  35. Julie Ann

    Just beautiful. Such nostalgia, just like the summers of childhood should be !

  36. May he never grow up and always love playing in the mud.

  37. Oh my gosh, Corey! These photographs are amazing! You really, truly have a gift for capturing MOMENTS. I think you should self-publish a book of these images, at least for yourself. I heard that BLURB – http://www.blurb.com – is good.

  38. What lucky children you have to experience growing up in france but still getting to live in the country in the U.S. for a tiny slice of their life…They are getting very rich experiences….
    I wish you the best…it will be difficult to leave your mom but you need to be back with your family also….Such a tug of the heart! Hopefully you will settle back in soon and you can visit your mom more frequently..will she go to france? that would be awesome…
    Good luck, my thoughts are with you!
    karen….

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