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Aristus

(72,628 posts)

36. I grew up on military posts mainly in the South.

Sun May 31, 2026, 09:46 PM

8 hrs ago

Summers were always blistering.

Everyone had yard sprinklers. Had to keep the lawns nice or the neighbors would complain. Every neighborhood had at least one family who had a Slip ‘N’ Slide; in summertime, their house was the most popular on the street.

And of course, Army posts have superb recreational facilities, including public pools. One of my fondest memories of summers when I was a kid was waiting for my mother’s soap operas to be over, so she could take us to the pool. To this day, the memory of the closing credits music of the last soap opera gives me a thrill. Time to go swimming!

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Memory Lane, How did you keep yourself cool in the hot summer heat? Running through a sprinkler? the inflatable 4 ring [View all] debm55 Saturday OP

Water hose. LoisB Saturday #1

Yup... that was about it. Occasionally my Mom would take us to a community pool. hlthe2b Saturday #3

Yep, that is right. hlthe2b. We didn't have a community pool. So it was the jumping through the sprinkler and the little debm55 Saturday #6

Yeah.. when I say "community" pool, not like an HOA-Subdivision pool, but a city pool 20 miles away... hlthe2b Saturday #22

Oh, I knew, but living in a Steel Mill town, did not give us a community pool. Carnegie Library in the little town had a debm55 Saturday #23

That was my life too. All the fans did was blow around hot air. If we were LoisB Saturday #21

Garden hose! johnp3907 Saturday #2

Thank you very much for sharing with us, johnp3907 debm55 Saturday #7

Picking mushrooms and going to the sinkholes. Big Dismal wasa favorite Lochloosa Saturday #4

Thank you very much for sharing with us, Lochloosa. debm55 Saturday #8

Ice True Dough Saturday #5

HAHAHAHHHAHAHAHHHAH. OMG. Thank you True Dough. debm55 Saturday #9

uhhhmmm...shrinkage. ret5hd Saturday #20

No way to keep cool. Just awful unc70 Saturday #10

Thank you very much for sharing with us, unc70, As a kid, we didn't have AC. I agree. , fans did nothing. My husband debm55 Saturday #11

There are cooling small towels : mucifer Saturday #12

Thank you very much , mucifer. I wil have to try. debm55 Saturday #13

As a kid, I didn't know a damned thing about thermodynamics, so what I did was pretty dumb. NNadir Saturday #14

Great post, NNadir. We have a Cape Cod house. ---two bedroom/attic upstairs. Even though, we have whole house AC. it is debm55 Saturday #15

That's what I grew up in, a "Cape Cod" house. NNadir Saturday #16

I remember sleeping outside as the house seemed to hold the heat.Never had AC in the car either . AC was a luxury that debm55 Saturday #18

I never had a house without AC. House of Roberts Saturday #17

Thank you very much for sharing with us, House of Roberts. Somehow the heat didn't bother me, during the day. but at debm55 Saturday #19

There was a playground, probably about a half mile from our apartment ... surrealAmerican Saturday #24

Loved those sprinklers at the playground. Thank you for sharing your memory with us.surrealAmerican. debm55 17 hrs ago #32

slip n slide - great fun jgo Yesterday #25

I loved that, jgo. Great fun and wonderful memories. debm55 17 hrs ago #33

I lived four blocks from Lake Michigan. greatauntoftriplets Yesterday #26

That sounds wonderful, greatauntoftriplets. Thank you For the memories. debm55 17 hrs ago #34

Neighborhood pools open every day, and I was there most days.. Permanut Yesterday #27

I am going to have to try that. Thank you very much for sharing, Permanut. debm55 17 hrs ago #35

Sprinkler MIButterfly Yesterday #28

Yes it was , Thank you very much,MIButterfly for sharing the memoring with us. debm55 17 hrs ago #31

Most of July and August gladium et scutum 22 hrs ago #29

Thank you very much for sharing with us, gladium et scutum. I slept outside too. debm55 17 hrs ago #30

I grew up on military posts mainly in the South. Aristus 8 hrs ago #36

Keeping cool wasn't a problem as a kid LogDog75 7 hrs ago #37

Lay on the floor w a fan on high and a pan or pot filled w ice water. AllaN01Bear 7 hrs ago #38

We we hit triple-digit weather, i used to haul a folding chaise lounge from sporting goods to the frozen food isle... Brother Buzz 7 hrs ago #39