Childhood Summers

Wiley Hilburn has a blog post on the Shreveport Times web site about his childhood memories catching lightening bugs in Ruston, Louisiana. His reminiscing doesn't have much to do with our Ruston, but it was a nice meander to more innocent times.

Candace Brown shared some poignant and nostalgic memories of childhood summers in her post Dandelion Summers. Candace is great writer and lover of the South Sound. Her blog Good Life Northwest is linked to the right.

For those who grew up in Ruston, life revolved around the smelter whistle. The afternoon shift change blast would signal the kids to come home for dinner, a special series would signal a fire call for the volunteers and was a constant reminder of the town's substance at the bottom of the hill.

Childhood is fleeting. As I watch my grandchild grow up much too quickly, I envy the slower pace and simple focus of those years. May the summer of 2008 bring that clarity of purpose for all of us. Let's enjoy a Popsicle, take time to watch a lazy butterfly and kiss a child's dirty, summer-stained face this summer.