Letter to the Editor: Highland is alive with the sounds of summer

Dear Editor,

It’s summertime in our little town.

There are PBJ festivals every Friday at the square and bands playing on Friday nights.

The streets are lined with American flags as we eagerly await the city of Highland’s firework display.

The filling station next door had out its barbecue pit and gave out free barbecue to customers all day.

Kids are riding bikes or walking home from the pool with their towels wrapped around them. People walking their dogs, or is it dogs walking their people? Families walk together to catch a matinee at our hometown movie theater, the Lory.

Flowers are in bloom; at least the ones that survived the heavy rain, and the mosquitoes are in full force.

Silver Lake is busy with people fishing, hiking and feeding the ducks, and there is nothing prettier than seeing the moon’s reflection at night shimmering off the lake.

Tropical Snow is once again open for business as families and friends gather at the picnic tables along the train tracks. Bikers are abundant as they travel from town to little town stopping at the local bars along the way.

My favorite part about summer is the sounds — a bat connecting with a ball and the cheering that follows at all the Little League baseball games, the ice-cream truck’s song as it goes up and down the streets, the cicadas, the tree frogs and even the crickets in my garage, the thunder as it rattles the windows during a thunderstorm and the rain that comes with it, the sound of creaking from a rusty swing as it is once again in motion and the cushions are back on the porch swings as neighbors once again greet each other in passing, squeals from children and adults as a June bug buzzes by their ears, water splashing in pools and the whistle from a lifeguard reminding kids to walk not run but most of all the laughter coming from backyards as people gather for barbecues and to enjoy each other’s company, especially my family’s.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed summer as you enjoy the lazy days of summer.

Cindy Gunn

Highland

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 3:10 AM with the headline "Letter to the Editor: Highland is alive with the sounds of summer."