When I was growing up, we moved to different states, different houses in our own cities and nothing meant more to me that spending summer time with my extended family.  For the most part no one moved away or stayed away for long, with the exception of myself, 2 brothers and parents. We would all gather at my mamaw and papaws house in the tiny little town of Rosine, Kentucky. 

The grown-ups gathered around the kitchen table or sat on the front porch, talking, laughing and just connecting again.   Usually drinking coffee or iced tea, no matter what time of day.  The kids drank water or kool-aid .  Oh YEAH! and were sent outside to play, with little to no adult supervision. Which gave us plenty of time to make up games,  play house, dig in the dirt, make mud pies.  Oh the joys of those days.  I don't even know if we complained about it being hot. We were just glad to play together. For the most part we all got along unless the oldest cousin wanted to be in charge,  then we would have some issues.

You may not think of playing as a form of art. I'm here to tell you about the millions of roads we made for our little matchbox cars, using twigs to build houses, fences for the farm animals, leaves for the roofing.  Our imaginations ran wild or as wild as our young minds could take us.  We played in the forest, creeks and dug into the cold earth under the porch.  Many spoons went missing from the kitchen because sticks were not as useful to dig with and we were not allowed to take the shovels or hoe's.  

Being creative wasn't limited to the kids.  It took a lot of skills to grow a garden,  collect the food and put it away for winter.  The many days spent breaking green beans to can. The slicing and dicing of tomatoes for juice to put into soups.  These are long forgotten skills that have gone to the wayside.  Art can take on many shapes and forms.  One might even believe that breaking beans could be a meditation of sorts.  Maybe I wasn't giving thanks at that moment, having to do the work but when it was all said and done and those quart jars were lined up on the counter and shelves, it gave you great pride to be a part of it all.

The elders worked hard.  it was an everyday job tending to the garden, picking off the bugs, weeding and making sure the plants and veggies stayed healthy.  How many of those day to day activities led to other forms of art?   Collecting, storing, using all parts and pieces so that nothing went to waste.

Churning ice cream, our little arms were wore out but if you didn't crank, you didn't get to eat.  And watermelon spitting contest.. The Art of the arch and how far you could blow it. Picking up a blade of grass, placing it between your thumbs to create a whistle. Stringing the clover or dandelions together to make a chain necklace or hair crown.  Staying out after dark to catch lightening bugs. These might have been simple times and also the best of times.

What did your summer experiences teach you about art? If you could do one thing today that you did as a child of summer what would it be?