Happy Hearts

When I was a young
summers were spent at our cottage by Lake Michigan
so when Spring came
the family dug out a foot of brown leaves from the back porch
shoveled drifted sand from cement walks
Older brother opened a small creaky door to get under the building
checking rusty pipes and valves
the spiders scared me so I only watched
and waited for him to get eaten

Lakeside cottages smell musty at first
and sometimes a dead mouse is finally found
stiff corpse in the back of the piano
windows opened
furniture dusted
counters washed
floors swept
fresh sheets on all the beds
we are ready for a different pace of life

Do you know what it is like
to get up just before the sun
and with the early morning chill
walk down wooden stairs
to sit on a mound of fine West Michigan sand
overlooking flat stillness for as far as you can see?
Nothing moves
the dune grass is still wet
and you think you could walk on the water

In the kitchen was a rustic painted breadbox
as well as an old painted table

a place where we would chow down peanut butter sandwiches
Oreo cookies dipped in fresh milk
cinnamon toast
This was where with family and friends
we'd play long and loud group canasta games
eight decks of floppy worn cards
happy red threes, sad black ones

Our bathing suits and towels hung in a large changing room
just outside was a faucet, bucket and hose
to remove all that clung to our arms, feet, legs and hair
we thought we got it all
but my bed was always filled
It would not be summer
without sand in the sheets
and going to sleep
to the low and constant moan of a fog horn

The best dinners were in the back porch
same day picked sweet corn
shuck it, pick out the silk
boil till ready then roll those suckers on a stick of butter then salt
Dad would grill whatever he was grilling
Mom would fix whatever she was fixing
but you must always leave room for ice cold watermelon
If you curl your tongue just right around a nice seed
you can nail your sister in the middle of her forehead

Some days, if we were lucky, and had a little change
perhaps a friend,  a cousin or two
our parents would let us walk that long mile
down Lake Shore Drive
to the Kitchen Cupboard
pinball, pop rocks, long red licorice strings
all gone by the time we got back
We were good kids
and stayed off the road

An enclosed front porch kept out the mosquitoes
and looked straight West at the big lake
Most evenings the family would sit on sail boat cushions
waiting for the fiery red ball to drop and light up the horizon
or watching far off lightning duel through thick black clouds
counting fireflies, listening to the ball game
Reader's Digest and cross word puzzles
chocolate ice cream cones to end the day
Happy hearts