Summertime

"Summertime -- and the livin' is easy; fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high...." So wrote George Gershwin.

I remember summertime. I grew up on a farm -- and the livin' was not easy! I remember summertime, cultivating acres of corn, cutting wheat with a binder and putting the bundles of wheat into shocks and, later, threshing the wheat and hauling the grain to the granary. I remember cutting, raking and hauling hay, putting the loose hay up into the hay-loft in 90-degree weather, tending the garden -- plowing, hoeing, weeding and watering. I remember, morning and evening, feeding the horses, milking the cows, slopping the hogs. I remember repairing the machinery when it broke down, cooking meals over a wood stove. I remember summertime. The work went on from sun-up till sun-down. The livin' was not easy!

"In the good old summertime, in the good old summertime, strolling through the shady lanes with my baby mine...."

Summertime was not easy -- but summertime was a good time. Farm work was hard work, but it bound our family closer together. Each of us shared in the work that had to be done. Each of us shared in the sense of accomplishment when the tasks were completed. Each of us shared in the fruits, the results, of our efforts. Sitting together around the dinner table or supper table, we shared the good things and the bad things that had happened to us that day. Later in the evening, we would all sit out on the porch, enjoying the sounds of the night. We enjoyed the peace and the calm of evening time. Summertime was a good time. We also enjoyed family outings, church picnics, and home-made ice cream. Life doesn't get much better than that!

"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy." So said Anton Chekhov.

How did we survive without air conditioning? Without TV? Without many of the things we take for granted today, things we feel are "necessary" in order to have the "good life?" We had learned to do the best with what we had. We learned to thank God for the many blessings we had received. We had all we needed. We saw our work as part of God's work in our little corner of God's world, we had the love and close companionship of family and we were a part of a loving, caring church family. We enjoyed visiting with our neighbors. We were happy -- and summertime was a good time to be alive.

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken." -- James Dent.

That about says it all. Except, Mr. Dent might have included Bar-B-Q ribs, a side order of slaw and potato salad and a pitcher of iced tea. Yes. The livin' is easy and summertime is a good time to enjoy the life God has given us. Hesiod said, "It will not always be summer -- so build barns." Summertime, like every other season of life, will soon pass. We can never be content with where we are in life, or with what we've accomplished so far. Fall and winter are just beyond the summertime, and the God of summertime is the same God who will lead us into the fall and winter. Life doesn't get any better than that.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." -- John Lubbock

Don Kuehle is a retired United Methodist minister who lives in Jackson. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Religion on 06/14/2018