Summertime

"Summertime and the livin' is easy, fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high…"

And...

"Mom and Pop told me 'son, you gotta make some money if you want to use the car to go ridin' next Sunday.' Sometimes I wonder what I'm a goin' do, 'cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues."

And…

"Roll out those lazy, crazy days of summer with soda, pretzels and beer" as the legendary Nat King Cole so nicely puts it.

Those lyrics are classics in the musical odes to summer-a period which should evoke fond memories in each of us. Countless days in the old swimming hole, the beach, the pool, trips to Disneyland, camping trips, summer camp and of course summer romances of many degrees of seriousness.

It's been quite a few years (decades actually) since I celebrated the end of the school year, which somehow always fell on my birthday-even through college.

But I still celebrate the beginning of summer-not the calendar beginning, but the period between Memorial Day weekend and when school is out.

If I were a real egotist, I would say summer starts on my birthday-which by the way means that this year I'm officially eligible for Social Security although I don't expect to sign up for a few more years. I guess you could call it a graduation of sorts, but I don't exactly like what I'm graduating to.

As to the songs, so many of the lyrics paint pictures for those of us who grew up when words of a song were understandable, told a story, didn't rely on profanity-and could be remembered at least 50 plus years.

Ira Gershwin's "Summertime" from "Porgy and Bess" certainly sets the mood and atmosphere of the love affair of the title characters. Ella Fitzgerald's rendition of that song lives forever, but others, including Janis Joplin's, are unforgettable. I can see those catfish jumpin' and the high cotton.

Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" laments the problems of youth during the out-of-school season. Lots of us would give almost anything to have those kinds of problems today. My summertime blues were great. Not finding enough girls to flirt with, not having $1.35 for two or three gallons of gas to go cruising, having an uneven tan or a worn out pair of tennis, or waiting to get called to work for that packing shed or cannery summer job were biggies.

Can any of you not recall a summer romance-imaginary or real? Meeting someone on vacation and falling in love for a week with promises to always stay in touch are just things which linger in the minds of those of us lucky enough to remain young at heart. Hearts were broken, promises forgotten and letters never written when summer came to an end. Blues-maybe-but being of the "summertime" variety makes them part of a young person's maturity. Read "blues" as "growing pains."

Cruising the back roads in your cool car with the windows down (especially the two-door hardtops) with the radio or eight-track cranking out some Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson, Frankie Avalon, Conway Twitty or Elvis hit was heaven. And if "Stranger On The Shore," or "Unchained Melody" played and your favorite girl-for the evening any way-was by your side, it was double heaven. We referred to those tunes as "make out songs" which were also big hits at after-game dances during the school year.

For those who shared a six pack of beer with three buddies on a country road or during an uptown cruise summer nights were "Moments to Remember."

Going barefoot was a sure sign of summer's arrival and putting shoes back on when school started was not a welcomed event.

Ah, yes pholks, baseball games on the radio, fun at the swimming hole, cruising with the windows down hoping to find romance and not worrying about homework, not having to get up before 6 a.m. and looking forward to laying on your back counting the stars with the help of someone special still is what "livin' is easy" means no matter who sings "Summertime."