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Making some memories at a wonderful time of the year

You would think the month of June this year would go down as a record setter for temperature. Brown lawns, droopy Dahlias and over the top lemonade sales would certainly be indicators.

You would think the month of June this year would go down as a record setter for temperature. Brown lawns, droopy Dahlias and over the top lemonade sales would certainly be indicators.

But no, we missed it by a fraction of a degree and 1951 remains the high temperature year for the month that is mostly spring and a little bit summer.

Was "global warming" a topic back then? Who knows and who cares. Summer is here for a short time so drink it in and rest assured we will be able to complain about the rain soon enough.

I enjoy all of the seasons but it is certainly summer that brings a flood of fond memories of carefree youth.

For the past week you have seen it. Rogue gangs of happy kids wandering the streets on bikes with no worries of time and space. A couple of bucks in your pocket, a ball of some sort and you are good to go for a whole day. I miss those times.

I love the menu change that summer presents at our house as well. I am generally a barbecue all year kind of guy, and I enjoy that summer seems to be an automatic portion shrinker. Now, any protein is usually accompanied by a very simple salad and that is fine with me.

The heat also ensures the kitchen counter and fridge are stocked with fresh local produce. We have seen early bountiful crops of berries and cherries and it will be a short time before B.C. peaches and nectarines make their way to our local retailers. We have been gulling down these goodies to beat the heat.

I recall summer nights when my brothers and I would return home from a long day of Popsicle eating to be treated to ice cream and blueberries for dinner. Sometimes we would just have watermelon. Lots of it. On Sundays, though, there would always be some massive hunk of meat on the squeaky rotisserie. You could hear it from blocks away and you could tell by the wonderful smell when it was time to come home.

Summer means play and fun.

I have spent some time prepping the fishing gear and organizing the tackle box. The dock is finally in at Point Roberts and my daughter and I are keen to get down to wonderful Lighthouse Park to waste some time.

I am two weeks in to my slopitch season and fully enjoy the warm summer night games with my friends. On a personal note, I have managed to complete a bucket list item. Our league is allowed a number of under 25 kids. My 19-year-old daughter is now playing with our team.

The other night we were able to play together. ML was playing shortstop and I was playing third because I can't move. We made a couple of plays together and it was a lot of fun. For me, after 15 years of coaching, 50 years of playing and 19 years of "dadism," that was a summer night that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time and one I will cherish forever.

Have fun out there and create some great memories! Mike Schneider is founder of Project Pickle and likes to write about growing, cooking and eating food.