Summer Fan

How excited was the gardener for spring? So excited he wet his plants.

I love spring and summer. I like to spring turkey hunt to get out into nature and see things start to green up little by little. It reminds me of Bob Ross dabbing the green paint on his ‘happy little trees’. My wife likes fall and I can see why. The leaves start to change and the temperature cools off. Harvest is in full swing and there are pumpkin lattes to drink while you pick your pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. To me, fall is when everything dies and dries up. Everything gets brown, the fields are empty, and I hear the dull drone of grain bin fans. 

               I think June is probably one of my favorite months. The trees are full, the grass is green, it’s not too hot yet warm enough for no jackets and sandals. I heard an interview with Jimmy Buffet one time. They said, “What is the best thing about being Jimmy Buffet?” He replied, "I only travel to warm places and I never have to wear socks.” That would be a dream come true for me, but I do love all the seasons here in Nebraska. 

               I remember when I was a kid and we got out of school for the summer. It seemed like everything slowed down a bit. I would go work with my dad on the farm and work with my 4-H heifers. We had a bus in Bruning that went to the pool once a week. There was baseball, Fourth of July firecrackers, 4-H camp, and the fair. In between we would find ways to hang out with friends and convince our parents to take us to Linda’s in Hebron. Linda’s was our locally owned Dairy Queen-like business. In fact, I think it was our goal as children to consume as much ice cream and candy as was legally allowed by our parents in the summer. We probably did it in the back of a pickup bed driving around without a seat belt as well. Life was simple and we thought we were in heaven. 

               Now being a parent, I try to make my kids free time as simple as possible and hope they enjoy summer. We moved into Bruning last fall and now we have lots of neighbor kids that come over to play outside whenever they see another kid leave the house. Water balloons, popsicles, mudpies, and ‘can we go to the park?’ There are so many things for kids to get involved in now, I don’t know how parents do it. When I was a kid there were three things I remember about the summer; baseball, 4-H projects, and detasseling. I never did detassel, but I did rogue beans before they had Roundup Ready beans. 

               As I write this my twins are five and my son is three. Just young enough not to be involved in a lot during the summer. They keep us busy because they are healthy and full of energy. I have to remind myself that this is a blessing when I get hit by a water balloon and worry about my cell phone. Life has been interesting for me in the last couple of years and I need to stop and smile a little bit at my family circus. Eat the mudpie, have a tea party, give a horsey ride, and make some popcorn while watching Frozen for the 47^th time. It was the little things like this that I remember as a kid during the summer. I need to stop the mower and spend a little time doing these silly things before they grow up and have three different summer sports and camps. To quote Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

-Adam Frank Bruning, Loan Officer