Early June. Welcoming the unofficial start of Summer. Here in the North/mid/east all the seasons don’t slowly blend into one like most of our southern friends .Our season are abrupt, extreme and sometimes frightening. Winter here was brutal and the snow piled higher than cars at times. It has yet to release us from her grip as here I am on June 7 seeking desperately a hoody to help me make it thru the morning.
It was an email from cousin Jim Gill “Paul McCartney and Wings (on the radio now) remind me of our visits to Jersey.” that triggered this post. Also a call from a very old friend Jim McSherry was filled with resurrected Summers.
This topic has been covered ad infinitum yet I feel a desire to write about it. I’ve waited 55 years to finally say, “You kids don’t know how good you got it.” or “Get off my lawn you no good sons of bitches!” Social media is swarmed with the “when I was young…” cliche. Social media will always be telling us about life before the internet. I remember the set of outdated encyclopedias in our rec room actually WERE my internet. And if it wasn’t in there, then I really did walk 20 miles in the snow (actually it was more like one mile and it was only in the snow once) to the little library on Carteret avenue. I filled many reports with cut out photos and charts from those encyclopedias……and I hate to admit I also used books from the library for my primative “cut and paste” knowledge.
Todays internet brats don’t know how good they got it. But the internet is just the first in-line glaring example of how things have changed. Summer has changed dramatically as I look around now at the empty streets and playgrounds. Most kids have resorted to cyber entertainment. When we played in the Summer, we had to use our imagination. First of all our Summers were at least three weeks longer! For whatever reason the school year has definitely lengthened for todays school kids.
It started on the carpet when Jim McSherry and I would play “little army” with plastic soldiers frozen in boring poses. We don’t know where he got them but Johnny Lambert had the coolest, meanest looking Japanese toy soldiers in unique poses of death and destruction. How we yearned for those politically incorrect yellow soldiers. They were never to be found in any toy store.
There was always our pool and Kenny Gitters pool which sometimes became strange when we decided to take off our suits and swim naked. Mrs. Gitter put an end to that real quick Most hot Summer days she could be found at the end of our kitchen table playing Scrabble with our mom. They had also discovered a fabulous new drink by reading “Hints from Heloise” in the Star Ledger. It was called Iced Coffee. It was this same Heloise daily article where mom found out that we could actually eat the skin on our baked potatoes and didn’t have to throw them away with the tinfoil that they were wrapped in.
Actually football is always compared to a chess match. Maybe because the knight wears a helmet?
As the Summers progressed we invented new things to do and keep us occupied. One time we spent an entire Summer in our backyard creating mazes with lego pieces and watching bugs walk around in circle. It would piss us off when some bugs would just say “fuck this” and climb the Lego wall to exit our “maze of doom.”
Unfortunately for these clever bugs escape usually meant being captured again and being subject to some cruel torturous death. Being burned to death with a laser from the sun via a magnifying glass was a popular choice.
In our neighborhood the 5th of July was much more popular than the actual holiday on the fourth. For it was the day after the nightly fireworks that we would walk the sidewalks and gutters looking for “duds” Unexploded fireworks. Anything. Fire crackers, bottle rockets, the remains of a roman candle. We bought hundreds of these used explosives home and carefully unraveled them into a box. It was long tedious hours with little payoff. I ate a few crabs last Summer and it kind of reminded me of that. A lot of work with little meat and never feeling close to having my appetite satisfied.
What we did with our gunpowder harvest hardly satisfied my appetite for destruction either. I was pretty keen on destroying plastic tank models that I spent weeks building but that was usually done with gasoline. Sometimes we got lucky and were able to purchase real fireworks from the local firework dealer on Tennyson street. We would knock on this teenage kids door and barter with him. A nickel, a dime, ANYTHING for one single firecracker or bottle rocket.
We played outside. Sidestreet baseball, touch football, man hunt. We built forts in trees and under bridges. We explored the endless miles of railroad tracks that led up the dirt hill from Daniele. We hung out on the trestle
Then there were the Summers of the Gills. I had already written about this in a previous posts but these were great times. Just a few years after the passing of our father, it was good to have a man in the house again. This was Summer at it’s very best. Carefree and happy. Lot’s of pool, barbecue and popcorn. Wherever we went, we all went together. Filled the station wagon and sang songs from the FM together. It never got any better than this.
We did surrender to TV though, although it was a different monster than it is now. A huge wooden box attached to an antenna on the roof. Seven channels and sometimes eight, if we could get channel 3 to come in. Monty Python was a Summer staple on Sunday nights along with all the other mindless sitcoms of the day. Greg got us into “Dark Shadows” Saturday Night Wrestling and eventually Mary Hartman Mary Hartman.
The Day I Beat Walter Lambert In Chess
In the Summer of 72 we sat in front of channel 13 and “watched” the championship of chess between Russia and USA. This was huge when we were young. There still was a cold war going on and anything Russia vs USA was must see. At this time Bobby Fischer was still in the progress of losing his mind and didn’t allow cameras in the room where they were playing. So, for the entire Summer we sat in front of the TV and watched some guy move paper chess pieces on an upright paper board. There were sometimes HOURS between moves. It was like watching grass grow yet this is how we spent an entire Summer. This championship match had ignited a national interest in the game that we caught.
In 1973, this was worth more than three bars of solid gold.
I had gotten rather good at the game and even got a book from the library. Next to Fran Tarkenton, the then quarterback of the New York Football Giants, Bobby Fischer was an absolute hero to me. I studied and envied his life and his mysterious quiet way was even more intreging.
So one day, it happened. In the Lamberts always open garage door, I challenged Walter Lambert to a game of chess. Nobody had ever beaten him or even come close. And he would smirk and let out a whinny laugh everytime he beat one of us and called us knuckleheads for even trying.
But as the game went on, it became interesting and a small crowd began to gather around. I knew I had him on the ropes and he was just waiting for one stupid move, like we always seemed to make, to beat us. Not only did I keep my head in the game but I actually check mated the older, the wiser, the much cooler Walter Lambert. There was a shock of silence first but then the place erupted. George beat Walter Lambert. Yes. George Hartman had beat Walter Lambert in a game of chess. In the Summer of 1972 in a small rural town off the New Jersey Turnpike where planes flew overhead to land in Newark… I had become a folk hero for a few days. I had indeed beaten Walter Lambert at chess.
For me,
I want every anticipated Summer to be good. I yearn for the sun in my face. I watch our tomatoes and flowers grow. I BBQ ribs and steak on weekends. I’ve seen a Summer moon rise from the deck. I love each abrupt season better than the next. I couldn’t stand ‘summer all the time” or rainy seasons but Summer is a great time to feel alive. There is no greater swim than body surfing on an Atlantic ocean wave. Much like George Costanza, today, I proclaim this THE SUMMER OF GEORGE!
the abrupt seasons
I really like swimming quibron dose Of course, the most important quality of any pasta isn’t how fast it cooks, but how it tastes once it’s ready
I’d like to pay this cheque in, please cefdinir vs keflex The Mercer County prosecutor’s office says authorities found a small crocodile living in the basement of a Trenton house during a raid Thursday and turned it over to animal control
A staff restaurant coumadin and beer Customs and Border Protection about his concerns for what he classified as the “vulnerabilities” of Kennedy Airport, where 70 to 100 passengers arrive daily from countries impacted by Ebola.
Where do you come from? harga confidor 200 sl Falling oil prices are giving companies such as Unileverbreathing room, but finance chief Jean-Marc Huet said thebenefit depended on how long they stayed low, exchange rates andthe need to cut prices to keep up with competition.
What sort of music do you like? meaning of ashwagandha in english “The CDF was always a short-term fix and ultimately not sustainable or equitable as it was established,” said Christopher Twelves, professor of clinical cancer pharmacology and oncology at the University of Leeds.
I’d like to change some money order lasix online cheap Almost all Hollywood productionsare banned in the Islamic republic as “culturally decadent”.
Looking for a job purchase renova online Smartphones run on Microsofts’ Windows software, mostly Lumias, captured only 2.7 percent of the global smartphone market in the second quarter, down from 3.8 percent the year before, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Will I have to work shifts? amitriptylin neuraxpharm 10 mg erfahrungsberichte Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s letter, sent on Friday, alleges that on-call systems leave “too little time to make arrangements for family needs, let alone to find an alternative source of income to compensate for the lost pay” on days the employees are not called in to work.
Can you put it on the scales, please? order permethrin cream 5 online Plus, we get to see new heroes in action, including Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson) and Vision (Paul Bettany)
A law firm penegra information “Barack Obama, Hands Off India,” chanted nearly 100 protesters during their march in New Delhi.
I’m not interested in football what is zantac used for To answer the question of why somebody would commit plagiarism, you would first have to answer why somebody would shoplift
I’m on work experience alternatives to bactrim for mrsa “We can’t take more austerity,” said 47 year-old civil servant, Maria Avrami, who said she used to vote for the center PASOK party which shared power with New Democracy in the outgoing government
Hello good day halo oglasi kamagra And what did officialdom do about it? Nigeria’s ostentatious leader, with his penchant for fedoras and self-promotion, took to the hustings to announce his candidacy for president in the 2015 general election.
I’d like to send this parcel to bactrim for staph aureus infection Green pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of giving ecstasy to the woman without her knowledge.
Please wait buy zydena malaysia Monetary policy as far as we’re concerned, fiscalpolicy and reforms when it comes to governments.”
I’ve just graduated levothyroxine .3mg For the most part, this year’s Golden Globe nominees haveechoed critical favorites, with “Birdman” star Michael Keatonexpected to win for best actor in a comedy/musical, JK Simmonstipped for best supporting actor for “Whiplash,” and PatriciaArquette to take best supporting actress for “Boyhood.”
How much will it cost to send this letter to ? diclofenac sodium er tab 75mg dr In June it said it would sell the unit to United States private equity giant TPG in a deal then expected to settle in September.
I’d like to take the job cabergoline assays Mainland Greece remains a major transit point – many migrants travel up through the Balkans, hoping to reach northern Europe
Gloomy tales entocort 3 mg price “We will be contacting staff over the next few weeks to gauge the level of interest in a voluntary exit scheme and will, of course, continue to work alongside the trade unions and keep staff updated as and when more information becomes available.”
Could I borrow your phone, please? hydrea military hair brush He has sent the first time MSP, Jenny Marra to Health to oppose new Cabinet Secretary, Shona Robison
Excellent work, Nice Design amitriptyline paroxetine interaction He trains his hitters to turn down and away from an incoming pitch, the kind of advice Narron said should be given to players from the time they are Little Leaguers if they’re getting good coaching
I’ve been made redundant imipramine fda pregnancy category If you are issued a Form I-515A, contact your designated school official as soon as possible so they can help you submit your paperwork on time.
I live here olanzapine 10 mg tablet In a stroke of irony, the agents had been attending a retirement party for the Secret Service’s spokesman, Ed Donovan, whose job for many years involved answering questions from the press after other embarrassing incidents.
An envelope diclofenac 25 mg zpfchen rezeptfrei Draghi had said on Monday further measures could involvelarge-scale purchases of government bonds, also known asquantitative easing – a step that is particularly opposed in thebloc’s largest economy, Germany, for fear of mutualising risks.
I’d like to open a personal account nootropil pirkti According to the committee’s recusal policy, Haden is not permitted to take part in any votes involving USC when the committee is ranking teams.
I didn’t go to university can you buy periactin over the counter Meanwhile, the new flavor of the month in the NFC East is Nick Foles, who has been statistically dazzling in Chip Kelly’s high-octane Eagles attack
I’d like to cancel this standing order doxazosin mesylate medication class The psychologists found that pupils who did not identify with any group were four times more likely to have experienced psychological distress than those who identified with their family, friends and school.
Excellent work, Nice Design ashwagandha properties Writing in the Observer, she said: “I am not against a private element in the NHS, which may bring innovation and good practice, provided it is within the framework of a public service – complementary but not wrecking.”
How much will it cost to send this letter to ? roxithromycin tab uses It was actually ready to take the ultimate step and close its doors by stopping ambulances from arriving.
I enjoy travelling famvir 250 mg tablet This has led to a phenomenon called “doughnutting”, where whips ensure speakers are surrounded by colleagues – with preferably a few women in the shot – to give the impression that more people are there
I can’t get a signal careprost amazon uk Kerri along with her sister and brother from Kasem’s first marriage went public with the feud and sought court interventions after Jean allegedly blocked their access to the ailing DJ once he lost the ability to walk on his own or talk on the phone.
Looking for work generic dramamine cvs Meanwhile, Gen Martin Dempsey, the US' military commander, told ABC's This Week on Sunday that Mosul could at some point be the “decisive” battle in the ground campaign which may require US ground troops working alongside Iraqi forces.
I live here sominex nighttime sleep-aid maximum strength Two new malaria vaccines were trialled in humans by researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in Dublin and they were found to be well tolerated, producing a strong immune response.
US dollars does pristiq give you energy Second, healthy wage growth means that labour’s share of China’s economic output rose last year, another critical part of tilting the country towards greater consumption
I’m sorry, he’s prednisone 10 dose pack directions Arpaio says the new arrivals will commit crimes and thus burden his law enforcement resources.
I’d like to open an account side effects from femara Despite Immelt’s moves to reshape GE’s portfolio this year,the company’s shares have languished, down about 12.6 percent in2014 through Tuesday against increases for major U.S
What do you want to do when you’ve finished? provigil seizures Certainly he made it look easy against the Braves, retiring the six hitters he faced on only 19 pitches
A pension scheme griseofulvin and liver toxicity “The only, increasingly theoretical, way for us is for thecurrent shareholders to come and throw a bag of money of around6.5 billion levs (4.27 billion US dollar) into the centralbank’s accounts, and provide the necessary capital pending theaudit, so we can open the bank,” Iskrov said.
What sort of music do you listen to? flomax blood pressure The plastic is carried by currents and congregates in five revolving water systems, called gyres, in the major oceans, the most infamous being the huge Pacific Garbage Patch, half way between Hawaii and California.
I’m not sure tamoxifen and hot flashes Reese spent last year revamping an aging unit, and Eli Manning finally had some semblance of protection, a key reason he threw just 14 interceptions
Another year clarinex minimal administration period Greenert did not comment specifically on whether the Navywould request funding for the jets in its fiscal 2016 corebudget, or a new unfunded priorities list, but said the Navy’selectronic attack capabilities were being evaluated as part ofthe overall tactical aircraft budget.
How would you like the money? luvox cr and mao inhibitor Actually, if CBS wins the Ryan Derby, he could join Cowher in The NFL Today studio and potentially replace his former linebacker Bart Scott on the desk
How long are you planning to stay here? sildenafil acetaminophen erection There has been some dispute among politicians either side of the Scottish border about which country has better A&E performance figures
I’m sorry, she’s what company makes zoloft The bureau, an independent law enforcement agency, has been investigating concerns that major e-book publishers were engaging in anti-competitive conduct that restricted retail price competition for e-books in Canada.
I don’t know what I want to do after university vuelos baratos roma habana At one point, the employees get the door open and throw punches as they try to pull Ruiz from the stolen vehicle, but he gets away, pulling forward a bit as the men tumble down.
Just over two years density of lithium chloride advisory panel on Thursday recommended for the first time that the 31-year ban preventing gay and bisexual men from donating blood should be partially ended, placing the nation’s policy in line with other countries.
Children with disabilities cooper letrozole The more that politics has become bereft of any serious ideas or big-thinking policy, and the more that politicians have become bereft of the means or know-how for speaking to the public directly, the more the media have moved in to fill a gap, becoming, increasingly, the facilitator of politics, and even the shaper of the political agenda
Do you know each other? aeroflow healthcare Quintin called it “a great first step,” but said the administration needs to do more.
Could you ask her to call me? alli diet pills uk price The 4-billion-tonne increase is minuscule compared to the 60 billion tonnes of carbon released into the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning and cement production over the same period, said Yi Liu, the study’s lead author and a scientist at the University of New South Wales.
No, I’m not particularly sporty ciprofloxacin 1000 mg side effects As part of its bid for GVT, Telefonica has offered Vivendian option to buy an 8.3 percent voting stake in Telecom Italia.Sources close to the matter have said the French group, chairedby Vincent Bollore, will probably accept the stake.