Memories of the 70's

I bit into a fresh, ripe peach this morning and was immediately brought back to my childhood. My two brothers and I spent our summers learning to swim at Lake Waban, within the Wellesley College campus with our cousins, my Mother's sister's children. It was like having four more siblings. It was great!
The "Mom's" sat around in their beach chairs chatting away, while us kids were free to swim, run around and play. 

We always reappeared by their side in time for lunch. This was always pulled out of a cooler, from home never ever from a store, sandwich shop, etc. It typically included; a sandwich (egg salad was a fave) some chips, a cookie or two and always a piece of fruit –typically a peach or a nectarine. We were occasionally allowed one splurge. We could purchase a soda from the soda machine. I am not that old, or maybe I am but these soda's came in glass bottles. With bottle caps. It was awesome. Fanta® Grape or Orange soda were my favorites.

This being somewhere in the 1970's we didn't have many choices in the vending machine and not one of them was bottled water. Remember this stuff? We'd buy this if we wanted to feel like a "grown up".

So when I bit into that peach this morning I could actually feel the sand in my toes, smell the sunscreen and remember yelling out "Marco! Polo!".  I would give anything to go back to those summer days learning to swim, playing "mermaid", watching the older kids do "Water Ballet" and being brave enough to swim all the way out to the dock.

These days I feel as if that dock is so far away that I may never reach it.