Dear Friend,

Summer is coming!  When I was a child, this not only meant a change in temperature, but it seemed to me my whole world changed. 

For your edification, I am sharing with you some important summer rules.

1) You cannot go barefoot until after June first.

 2) If you get a sandspur stuck in your hand, do not pull it out with your teeth.   Arthur did and he had to have an operation to remove the spur from his throat, Note: Nothing was said about what to do if it was stuck in your foot.

3) Be on the lookout for prickly pears, stinging nettles, and oyster shells. 

4) Always watch for snakes – especially rattlesnakes.  If you see one – tell your mother.  She will kill it with the garden hoe.

Note: Kingsnakes are good snakes. I watched a kingsnake squeeze a rattlesnake to death and swallow it head-first.

5) The biggest, juiciest blackberries grow by Egan’s Creek, but you cannot go there because alligators and water moccasins live there.

6) If it gets too hot during the day, your mother will put a large wash tub under the oak tree and fill the tub with water. You can soak in the water and, if you're a girl, you can pretend you're Jane swimming in the lagoon looking for Tarzan.  If you're a boy, I guess you could splash around and pretend to be fighting an alligator.

Do children have such adventures now? More than likely they don't even know who Tarzan and Jane are.  (More's the pity.) Depending on where you live in the United States, be sure you know what to do when the tornado and the hurricane come.  

Otherwise, enjoy yourself!

Have a great summer!

Until We Meet Again,

Mary Nolan Brown