In the Good Ol’ Summertime

Reminiscing about summers long ago. How did we ever stand the heat in those days of no air conditioners? For two years, at age 10 and 11, I spent the summer at Rockaway Beach, where my great aunt Kiki had a bungalow. This summer treat whisked us away from the hot sidewalks of Brooklyn, where we would wait for the shade to come to our side of the street so it would be safe to go out and play.

Our Rockaway bungalow was shared with my grandmother, grandfather and aunt plus my sister, my Aunt Alice, Uncle Ed and cousins. Even old Uncle Val came to visit. The bungalow was a few short blocks from the boardwalk and the Atlantic surf. I remember going to the beach every day – no sun screen in those days either! – playing in the sand and the waves. On Tuesday nights they had fireworks, set off from a barge out on the waves.

On other nights we would go to Playland, where we played skee ball and “poker” and saved up coupons to buy Christmas presents at the end of the summer. And there were the rides! From my bedroom window, I could see the roller coaster and watched the cars go up and down, imagining the screams of the riders.

Speaking of bedrooms, with all those summer tenants, we were sometimes 4 or 5 to a bed. And remember no air conditioning! Needless to say, it was hot and difficult to sleep. Sometimes my sister and I would spy on “pajama boy” jumping up and down on his bed in the next bungalow. I guess we didn’t have shades either.

There were lots and lots of kids in the bungalow colony. We played any games that involved running around the colony and making the owner yell and chase us. Only one boy had a TV; sometimes he let us watch Captain Video episodes. We also had an all summer Monopoly game going. And I had my first crush on a 12 year old boy from the Bronx. It seems like yesterday. And so long ago….