Okay, I got one for you…. What is the song, recorded by the Zombies in the 60s and was written by George Gershwin? Huh? Huh? Okay, I will give you a hint… it was also sung by Janis Joplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Green and Willie Nelson. I also like Nora Jones’ version. Give up? Okay, it was written for Porgy and Bess. Still not sure? Okay, here are the lyrics as sung by Ella…
Said to be one of the top Pop songs…Summertime. There has been lots of songs about summer living….surfing, relaxing, cruising, sailing… all great to explore and dream about warm days in far off places.
When I was around 8-10 or so, I used to build special places, forts, to play and dream. We lived in southern California, in a new set of tract homes. My brother and I started with blankets over chairs but quickly moved to modern structures built out of large cardboard boxes. As we grew, we developed our skills and wandered the building sites in our new development, collecting discarded wood from the builder’s throw-away piles. We then used the wood to construct strong forts in neighboring orange trees. We had a lot of fun hammering then playing in the forts. I guess that’s why I now want to see every child with a place to climb, dream, and play.
We have an area on the property that we labeled Grandma and Grandpa’s Playground. Once a fenced-in garden, that frankly struggled to grow anything, is now a destination to play.
The area is fenced to keep out deer and keep grandkids in. It is constructed in a 50+ foot diameter circle around a large fire pit. Then it is divided into 4 quadrants around the fire pit that we allocated to a summer activity…. One for growing veggies and cut flowers, one for playing ping pong on the lawn, another for grass-bound gymnastics, tee-ball practice and general tickle fights. The last quadrant now houses the new play fort we built this weekend. My wife still has her gorgeous roses and flowers in various planting beds in and around the quadrants.
The ping pong area was completed last year as was the tee-ball and veggie areas. But the last quadrant, the play fort area, has been a long time coming and, as my Granddaughter often gently reminded me….”Grandpa, when are you going to add the swing and we need the slide and walkway from my playhouse and, and, and”….
So last year we began making designs. My youngest daughter found a great slide and other play-area parts at a local garage sale. That gave the inspiration for building the perfect play fort. Each time my Granddaughter and I spoke, she was explaining how the play fort needed to work, how high, how big, what was needed to ensure a glorious day at the playground. This weekend, my Son, Daughter and Granddaughter came over to help build the perfect Play Fort for our grandkids to explore and dream and maybe sail off to faraway places (like Maui).
With summertime around the corner, we bought the necessary lumber and screws and set out to construct. It felt like when I was a kid, building the perfect fort! The main structure, 4′ X 8′ X 5′ high was completed with the required slide and ladder but we are still adding parts and pieces. A ships wheel, a telescope, a bell, climbing wall, swing, …. It didn’t turn out too bad, I think. But the test will be how many journeys get dreamed about where the fish are jumpin….
