Endless Summer Days

Endless Summer Day

One of my favorite places in the world as a child was the orchards in China bend. (One of the communes far flung properties in the Northeast corner of Washington) There were two orchards, one on each side of a grass and dirt road, more like a glorified pathway. Much of the walk to the orchard was shaded by hazelnut bushes, pine and Aspen trees. This made the walk a cool escape from the 90 to 100 degree summer temperatures. There was also a spring of cool clear water along the way which made this destination particularly appetizing in the heat of summer. On the uphill side there was a giant gnarled mulberry tree that seemed to drip with berries when in season. The apple trees were all ancient and yielded scabby, small, but delicious fruit. Free range cows often came here to eat the ground fall and one of our childhood games was to drop apples into the cow pies, disgusting I know, but somehow very amusing and satisfying to our childish minds. The downhill orchard on the other side of road contained my favorite spot. There was what remained of what I assumed to be a pioneer cabin. Just the bottom two or three logs, that had been filled in with soil over time forming a little earthen platform. To one side was an impressively overgrown lilac bush that smelled most amazing when in bloom. As children we loved to spend an afternoon there picking fruit, and climbing trees, we often packed our lunch and made a day of it.

The bears loved the orchard as well as we did, and were sighted there on more than one occasion. One day my mother had taken us children to pick apples and have lunch. We laid out our blanket and ate our lunch. We then decided to go to the lower orchard to play before going home. When we returned to get our things, a large brown bear was checking out our picnic! It noticed us at the same time we noticed him, and lumbered off peacefully into the woods. We just stood stock still, while he walked away, and you can bet we waited a goodly amount of time before collecting our picnic.

If you continued down the steep hill through the fruit trees and down small embankment you came out in a large sunny field. Across this field lay the mighty Columbia. We had many spots along the river we played and this spot was particularly interesting to me because it was as far up the river as we ever went. It also had sparkling black sand on parts of the beach. It was as if we were at the end of the world and what lay beyond was always a mystery. We played there with the words of caution still ringing in our head to stay on the beach and not go into the thick shrubs where poison ivy grew in large patches.  I did have a nasty encounter with the poison Ivy once but that is a story for another time.

Many creeks joined the river along our little stretch and these were our favored places to play. The pleasure of digging our little trenches in the sand and redirecting the water on its way to the river was endless entertainment. Often times we worked silently, as children do when they are immersed in their play. Other times our small voices and laughter would pierce the air. I can still feel the sun warming the top of my head as I submerged my arms in the creek mud, scooping out large piles to make way for the trickling water.  The mud would dry cracking and tightening on my skin.  I don’t believe we spent very much time wearing clothes in the summer months; we lived blissfully cut off from the outside world. The air was filled with the smell of mud and river weed, smells that can still bring me back to those satisfying moments.

Playing at the river was cooling, but the summer the sun could bake you dry by the time you came home again. There was nothing like a nap on blanket under a hazelnut bush, in the heat of the day. Lying there blissfully tired, I could hear the buzzing of insects, the distant sound of someone’s voice, and my mother turning the page of a book.  I could smell the warm pine needles and faint hint of the river on my skin. That was the kind of peace that permeated the soul, and one could not help but feel peaceful here, on those seemingly endless summer days.