Sounds of Summer Where Did They Go??

I was born and raised in the Big Valley. Lived in the same house my whole life, until I got married. I remember our house was somewhat the hub of the neighborhood, my dad made sure that there was an abundance of "playground" equipment at our disposal. I supposed so we were not "running the Neighborhood" There was a hopscotch painted on the driveway, not to mention teatherball and foursquare .. and 35 gallon garbage can filled with rubberballs, baseballs, footballs, jumpropes, baseball gloves *pretty cool and modern for a house with no boys- it was after all, the 70's!* and the ever popular tire pump to keep all bike tires and balls in fine working order, oh and I almost forgot the 18 foot long, 4 foot deep doughboy pool in our backyard.

We would play outside for hours, ride our bikes, then as it turned dusk, our parents would bring their lawn chairs and congregate on our front porch and talk... OH MY GOD they would talk for hours, no alcohol was ever involved, no loud music, just the quiet sounds of summer: kids playing "hide and seek", laughter, and the sound of crickets chirping as if they were making their own summer time memories....

Now lets fast forward, to the year 2007. We-my family- have lived in the same house now for 17 years. We have never formed the same bond with our neighbors that my parents did. My kids have only played "hide and seek" at family functions, with their cousins... I don't even hear the crickets anymore! I miss the damn crickets! I don't even like crickets! There is something however, very comforting in the sound that a cricket makes, it takes me back to a time when my life was simple, uncomplicated and I knew people loved me, not because they could get something from me, but because I was their daughter, sister, friend-unconditionally-they loved me- When did life become so damn complicated? And where are those damn crickets!!!???