Summertime

It would start to get hot in early April. The schools I went to never had air conditioning. Except the library, but there were a group of guys outside that, if they saw you entering and exiting too much, would harass you the rest of the day. Throwing rocks at you, calling you a studious goon.

Riverside California is not noted for anything except smog and heat during the summer. The area only makes the news if the Santa Ana winds blow trucks over on the freeway. The hot winds were like and old friend that would come and stay that time of the year. You can depend on it. If you could go a whole year and walk out you're front door without the wind hitting you in the face like a furnace blast, it just didn't feel normal.

My family was lucky. After years of negotiation, my older brother finally talked my dad into putting a swimming pool in our back yard. "My daddy's a fool, if he don't buy us no swimming pool." He would sing this every time the temperature would reach triple digits. I never thanked him for that. I do now. He showed signs of being a master salesman even then.

The battle to beat the heat was constant. Drapes were always closed. Doors always shut. We only had one small wall mounted air conditioner in the house. If my dad walked in, he would turn it off. His place of business was right next door, so he could keep a constant monitor on it. His ability to pinch a penny until it turns to dust is legendary.
Mom always found a way, though. "Don't tell your father" she'd say while handing me five bucks.

My friends and I played a lot of baseball during the summer. The local little league organization was actually well organized. To this day, playing ball is still the most fondly remembered time of my life. I pitched. The smell of the fresh cut grass and pine tar on the bats is something I will never forget. People cheering in the stands. Playing against guys that you see at school. The local girls that came to watch.

Sometimes Mom would rent a house at the beach for a week and take the whole family. Dad would stay home, so it was like a real vacation. My brother had the ability to stay out in the sun all day and return in the evening a rich, golden brown. I would do the same thing and get as red as a stoplight. At night I would be as stiff as a board while my mother washed me down with vinegar. Ugh, what a smell. My brother would laugh.

My father owned a gas station. I would have to work there in the afternoons. It consisted of a small brick building , six pumps covered by a canopy, and a service bay with a hydraulic lift. Surrounded by asphalt, the temperatures would easily reach 120. It was full service, so every time someone drove in, I would have to venture out to help. It was not uncommon to see spots before my eyes and be slightly dizzy by the time I got there. Now I buy beer to get the same feeling without the exercise.

Written by Craig Adams