June was here just a minute ago, and then we turned around and went to Houston for a graduation, headed to upstate North Dakota to celebrate my Aunt Susie’s 60th at the Bowbells pool, ventured to Grandin, North Dakota, for a Chrest family gathering at Uncle Tim’s and Auntie Holly’s…and “poof”…June was gone.

I’m fond of calling her Auntie Holly, especially when I’m a bit deep in my cups, as we’re about the same age. She may not garner as much entertainment from it as I do. So it goes.

A good time was had by all at Susie’s Hawaiian party. The Bowbells City Park and pool have been the gathering spot for many birthdays and celebrations in our family over the years, so it was nice to share that space and that time with family and friends for the day.

It’s been over 25-years since the last time I was at the Bowbells pool, and although the renovations and heated pool are nice, I missed seeing blue-lipped goose bumped kids lying on the hot cement quivering uncontrollably as they attempt to bring their body temperature back up to a sensible level.

I remember my 11th birthday, when mom mercifully gave into my pleas to drive all the way to Kenmare to the heated pool. It was an overcast day, and without hot cement and direct sunlight as a refuge at the Bowbells pool, I wouldn’t have had the motor control to open gifts, blow out candles or undo the perpetual knot in the drawstring of my polyester swim trunks.

I got a cowboy hat that year. A lovely high-crowned straw model complete with a massive feather hat band that looked as if you had stuck your head out the window of a fast-moving 1977 Ford Econoline and ran headlong into a flock of pheasants.

I also remember that that prized hat, that looked so dashing with the black satin western shirt with ivory snaps and tassels hanging from its velour yoke that my mom sewed me, got crushed on “The Bullet” at the Flaxton Fair. My hat and my flock of pheasants never fully recovered from that tassel twisting ride.

Speaking of tassel twisting, Uncle Tim and Auntie Holly were thoughtful enough to schedule the Chrest family gathering at their home in Grandin to coincide with a tremendous lightening show and 100-mile an hour winds. The wind blew, trees and granaries flew, and the power was out for a day or two…or three. As the news soon revealed, we were quite fortunate given the devastation and lives lost in other areas of North Dakota.

We love to travel and always enjoy family time hither and yon, but it always makes me smile to see the Black Hills fill the frame of the windshield upon our return. It’s nice to be back in my Mountain Time state of mind for a bit to rest up and reload for the next journey.

Safe travels wherever your summertime sojourns take you…“and at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.”