Friday Five: Hot Town, Summer in the City...

...or town, or suburb, or hamlet, or burg, or unincorporated zone, or rural area of your choice---pretty much anywhere but the southern hemisphere, it's summer. (Australians and others, consider this an invitation to take a break from winter for a while.)

1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s)

Mmmmm, sweet corn, strawberries and tomatoes, all fresh picked. Also freezer pops, you know, the ones in the skinny plastic tubes in all kinds of colors. Home-made ice cream. Sangria and a frozen drink that my granddad was famous for called a peach pousee (sp?) made with frozen peaches, frozen o.j. concentrate and vodka (I switch that for rum, personal preference).

2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.)

For some reason, the Top Gun soundtrack comes to mind.

3. A childhood summer memory

When I was a kid, my mom wasn't working and we would go spend pretty much the entire summer at her parents' home in Dallas. We'd take swimming lessons in the morning at the Y and swim in their pool all afternoon. Poppy would take us to the local library. There were usually grown-up parties once or twice in the summer and we'd get to stay up late and "attend" thinking how grown-up we were.

I also remember picking wild blueberries up in Canada and my great-aunt Helen gamely making blueberry pancakes with the 1/2 c. we'd manage to find. And my great-uncle Joe fileting the tiny little sun perch we'd catch off the dock and Marm making bite-sized fish nuggets with them.

4. An adult summer memory

Playing with L in the sprinkler and her little porch pool. Also, during one of our (almost) annual trips to Canada, watching the Leonid metor shower from the boat during a blackout from a recent storm; the sky was amazing!!

5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities)

We're taking our trip to Canada soon, and I'd really love to see the Northern lights. That would be such a treat! But as for a whole day, it'd would start with waking up early and visiting with mom since we're the only early risers, having someone else care for L and not having to change diapers. Canoeing with P, maybe boating over to the swimming hole at great aunt Helen's and catching frogs with L. There'd be great food, maybe burgers and sweet corn and tomatoes for dinner and for sure, butter tarts!

Optional: Does your place of worship do anything differently in the summer? (Fewer services, casual dress, etc.)

We used to bump the service back half an hour and cancel SS for the season. But a few years ago they kept the worship time a half hour earlier year round, so now some of the classes, especially the children's and teens', don't meet for the summer.