In the time I went to school, I don’t remember ever having a teacher use this writing prompt. That may have been because I grew up in an agricultural community in Southwestern Ontario.
Corn tassel
Summers meant hoeing beans, picking cucumbers, picking tomatoes and/or detasseling corn.
It was hard work and no one wanted to relive the experience in a school essay. When you lived on a farm, you worked on a farm.
Sometimes there were swimming lessons at the little pool in town, but I usually only got there for the July lessons. By August, there was too much work to do. As a result, I never moved pass Advanced Beginner. Although, I did have a pretty good dog paddle.
When I was twenty-four, I signed up for swimming lessons at the local YMCA and finally passed my Advanced Beginner and now I love to swim.
This summer, I was in the little town of Deep River, Ontario. One of my best summer vacation memories is jumping off the boat into the warm deep water of the Ottawa River on a hot sunny day.
That’s me on the far right, swimming with Makita, Liz and Ryan in the Ottawa River by Oiseau Rock.
Other than my trip to Ontario, I didn’t do a lot of summer vacation stuff because I was focused on the WIP. The Working Title is HIGHBURY and it’s almost finished. Almost. I am smoothing out the last two scenes and tying up loose threads. Along the way with this book, I discovered it was actually the Second book of a series. Once I am completely finished with it, I will begin the First book of the series. Nothing like starting in the middle.
I missed most of the summer movie fare, but I did see Guardians of the Galaxy. If you like the Marvel movies (The Avengers, Ironman) you will probably enjoy this one. I did. As usual, Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance. What a guy.
We had one BBQ in the backyard this summer with a few friends sitting around the fire. I will make sure to have at least one more BBQ in the warm days of Indian Summer.
And I only went hiking once, to Johnston Canyon, so I must make time to do at least Larch Valley this fall.
This summer, I signed up for an eleven-week session of drop-in Yoga. The Summer Sizzler. Turns out I love Yoga and I managed to get to 28 classes. I’ll go back to swimming at the Y this fall, but I want to do more Yoga.
Did you swim in any rivers, lakes or oceans this summer? Did you see any blockbuster summer movies? Did you take up any new sports or activities? How did you spend your Summer Vacation?
beach chairs from Bigstockphoto.com #5904213
corn tassel from Wikipedia
Guardians of the Galaxy movie poster from Internet Movie Database imdb.com
yoga from FreeDigitalPhotos.net
That brings back memories. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan but it sounds the same – lots of work, no vacations. I didn’t learn how to swim either. But I never took lessons like you did. Congratulations. It sounds like a wonderful summer holiday – and a very productive one too. I laughed at your starting in the middle of a series, but whatever works is a good way to write. I enjoy your stories very much, so want you to keep writing.
Thank you Mary. You are one of my best encouragers!
OH my – can’t believe that you were so close to my teen-years stomping grounds. I went to high school down the road from Deep River at Renfrew. The Deep River High School teams were our arch enemies. Your swimming hole looks like a duplicate of the one we went to at Calabogie–same river, same rock formations–but down the road and hour or so. It sounds like you had a relaxing and productive summer. Good luck with both your books — WIP and proposed.
Mahrie – that is so cool! I will have to tell DIL Liz about Renfrew. Deep River is HER home town.
And whether it’s at Calabogie or Oiseau Rock, I think the Ottawa River is wonderful. A perfect summer spot.
Your summer sounds awesome, especially the 28 yoga classes. I love yoga too, though I don’t practice nearly enough. We had a lovely summer, but the kids are off to school today. They were both looking forward to it, but I’ll miss them!
I know what you mean. My kids are grown up now, but I remember that the Return to School was always bittersweet. I got lots more writing done, but I missed them.