A Nostalgic July 4th Picnic To Celebrate Summer

Whether we love them or hate them,  we can’t deny that, with almost a life of their own, our southern summers are full of magic and memories– a multitude of defining moments of independence found little by little until childhood becomes a thing of the past.  And there is no better way to celebrate the first official holiday of summer than with a nostalgic farm-style picnic that celebrates both family and country and all the things that make us who we are.  Happy 4th of July!

I look for those charmed summer reveries, clothed in a thick, close heat and colored in repurposed hand-me-downs,

A softly worn kaleidoscope of mixed and matched treasures from a time gone by.

I find myself wondering about watermelon seeds, sticky popsicles in plastic sleeves, and water that ran ice-cold straight from the hose.

Along with tube socks and muscle shirts, lost are the days of pasted hair on a damp forehead, earnest strings of granny beads, and electric fireflies who snapped and popped their way through the evening in hopes of a mate.

Yet I still strain and search for that crackling heat

and the slow, even swirl of a steady Southern summer.

So that I can sit for comfortable moment

In the distant familiar 

And smile to remember who we are and where we came from.

***

For more southern summer nostalgia visit: My South, Simple Patio Picnic,  or Crab Cake Sliders for the 4th here at A Southern Discourse!

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