By Steve Graf

Have I ever told you how much I hate summertime? Not sure if it’s an age thing or the fact that there’s just not much going on in the outdoors world when it comes to hunting and fishing. But I’m really starting to think it is an age thing. I just don’t handle the heat or enjoy being outside on those hot summer days like I did when I was younger. But for the sake of this article, I’ll go back in time and see if I can determine why I feel the way I do.

As a kid, I can remember that feeling you had on the last day of school before summer break. It was a buildup that occurred all day long till that final count down and the clock struck that magical time of 3:30. The sound of that school bell going off was music to my ears! No more homework, no more having to study for a test, no more report cards and no more teachers telling me to sit up straight. I was a free man (kid) and ready to attack the nearest sandlot or stock pond. Now most of my days would be filled with baseball every day from sunup to sundown six days a week. But on the seventh day after church, God said to go forth and fish! So, I did just that as I was fishing a local farm pond (in Texas they call them tanks) from noon till dark.

While getting up at 6:30 for school was a challenge every day, not now, it was summertime! I was up with the chickens and on my bike headed for town by 7:00 AM making sure my buddies and I got the best backstop on the sandlot. It was amazing how my perspective on life changed within 24 hours of school letting out. But there were also chores that had to be taken care of and while I have never confirmed this fact, I always heard that this was the reason parents had kids. To take care of the things they did not want to do like cutting the grass, taking out the trash, cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping off the carport and my all-time favorite chore…hoeing the garden! But like THEY always said, “It made me the man I am today!” Yeah…right!!! I mean if had I committed a crime severe enough to be sentence to prison with hard labor, no doubt I would have been well prepared!

I do remember having my deepest thoughts while push mowing the two acres around our house with sweat dripping off my nose. Or hoeing the garden and pulling grass with sweat dripping off my nose. And nothing was more pleasant than sweeping off our massive carport in 100-degree heat with once again…sweat dripping of my nose. During my daily “hard labor” work, I would also dream of the day I no longer had to cut the grass, hoe the garden, clean the bathrooms or sweep off the carport. One day my parents would regret how they abused me as a child by making me do so much work. Just wait till I leave home, they’ll miss me then! But like THEY always said, “Hard work never hurt anyone.”  While I’m not sure who THEY were, I’ll bet THEY were parents too.

Fast forward to 2021… I still hate taking out the trash, cutting the grass (which actually I hire someone to do now) and very seldom do I clean the bathrooms and I surely don’t have a garden to hoe. I think that’s a line in a country song “Didn’t have a row to hoe.” But for me, there’s another verse that goes with that… I don’t want a row to hoe!

Today at the age of 60, the summer heat is more than I can bare especially when the temps hit that 100-degree mark. That’s when I become miserable during those hot summertime bass tournaments with once again…sweat dripping off my nose! Ah ha!!! That’s it…it’s the sweat dripping off my nose that makes me hate summertime. It all goes back to my childhood when I thought I was the male version of Cinderella!

Now it’s all very clear to me why I hate summertime. It’s too damn hot outside and that’s why God made air conditioning. So that I would never have to deal with sweat dripping off my nose ever again! But God does not promise air conditioning all the time, so I guess I’ll just have to suck it up, wear the proper clothing, put on my sunscreen and drink plenty of water during those hot summertime tournaments and count my blessings for my parents teaching me the value of hard work and to appreciate everything that I have. Till next time, good luck, good fishing and this summer, try and stay cool. Oh, and don’t forget to set the hook!!!

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