CHILDHOOD IS A SHORT SEASON......

I beleive God gave us memory, so that we might have roses in December! and yes, childhood is a SHORT SEASON....

I have so many wonderful childhood memories that take me back to like it was just yesterday.  Today, a childhood memory hit me and i found myself going to that place.... parked my car along side the freeway... got out and walked through a chained link fence with the gate completely open, crossed the railroad tracks, crossed another road... and as i stood there, and looked around, and listened so carefully, the memories flooded my mind, heart and soul. (thank you for sharing this memory with me)

I want to always remember to slow down in life;live, breathe and learn; to take a look around whenever i have time and never forget everything and every person that has made an impact in my life.

An irrigation canal or ditch... simply calming, simply exciting, simply fun, simply a rush and simply a great memory.  Right outside of the town of Ceres, where both my mom and daddy grew up, is this canal.  I couldnt tell you how many times I jumped into this canal.  Yes, i remember being scared... the initial" jump in" where goodness knows what is lurking in the bottom of this 100 feet deep canal.... (so,i thought) yet, i never hesitated, because i was jumping in and i knew my dad was gonna catch me, he would never let anything happen to me!  We would giggle and hang on to inner-tubes, and float on down the canal.... we always knew when we saw the little bridge we had to prepare to get out.... get to the side, and hope our tennis shoes on our feet would grip the steep slimy cement sides of the canal. Once all of us were out.... we would be jumping up and down asking "can we do it again..please can we do it again"  Of coarse we would do it again, but not before we would all pick a fresh peach, rinse it off in the irrigation water, take a bite of this big orangish yellowish peach, as the juice dripped down our arms...i can still see, smell and taste those peaches.  I dont think i've ever had a peach that good ever since!

a homegrown peach... picked by you... nothing like it from the fuzzy surface, a smooth velvet richness, splashy juices... Oh how i long for an August peach, the kind that are so ripe, , the aroma like no other...

We were now ready to jump back into the canal and do it all over again..... this was a huge ordeal... this was just as good as Disneyland, a swimming pool or any vacation!  As an adult, i just had to let my kids experience this childhood memory of mine that i heldt so close to my heart... i hope someday their kids get to experience it.... well i dont even know if its legal anymore... for that matter I dont know if it was legal then!  but heck, my dad was a police officer, he'd keep us safe!

 I got back into my car today, after i had looked over and saw me, my dad, my brother, my uncle Jim, cousin Janet,and others who had this maginifcent experience  and then remembering both my kids making the plunge into a lifetime experience of swimming in a canal....i came back into Ceres and drove by a home that is part of my life, a legancy to many... my grandma Reynolds house..(its not standing anymore, but very vivid in my mind)

A house is a house... but a home is a home... and this home molded many of us... from the wooden porch, the 3 steps leading up to that porch, i can remember it creaking and the screen door swinging open non stop....the claw legged bathtub, the basement full of canned good made with hard work and love.... the big table that we all sat around, enjoying everyone's company, the metal glasses , the china hutch filled with glass figurines, bread pudding, chicken and dumplin's, waiting for Santa to enter on Christmas Eve, going to the park and being pushed on the metal merry-go-round by cousins Jerry and Keith,(thats who is sitting on the porch) coming back and hearing on your mark, get set-GO.. searching under this bush or the chair on the porch, in the window sill, in the tree, every Easter egg would eventually be found... one of the most  remembered phrases i can hear is "OLLIE-OLLIE-AUCTION FREE"  Hide n seek for hours with family .. priceless.....

We all have our time machines.  Some take us back, they are called memories.  Some take us forward, they're called dreams.   And i have lots of memories and i have dreams that my family and grandkids will have childhood memories like i do. 

with His AMAZING GRACE......

A moment lasts all of a second... but the memory lives on forever!