Country view: Summer fun

Canoe ride

This photo shows Kevin Kimball (grandpa), Glenn Ayer (son-in-law), Chloe (granddaughter), and Cohen (grandson) all going for a ride in the canoe on Salem Lake in Derby, Vermont.

Pati Kimball, Ludlow, Vermont

Extended family

When my son started grade school he became friends with a group of boys that came to our home after school and spend time playing, eating cookies, and going to local activities together. They called me mom and I came to love these boys like additional sons.

When they went to college, I cried. They are in their 30s now and a couple have their own families, but they remain good friends. But getting together all at once is more difficult now and so every summer we have a grill out at my house to celebrate my son's birthday. We all get together either physically or by phone on that day.

I look forward to seeing my "other" sons and their families, talking to them and getting to be their extended mom once again, if only for a little while.

Linda Strogen, Bridgeport, West Virginia

They had another idea

Last summer my husband and father completed a water collection system. They attached PVC pipe to the bottom of the house gutters and ran the pipe under ground to a collection tank. The tank water is used to water the poultry and the garden.

It is amazing how much water is collected in that tank, even in a light rain. The tank has an overflow drain at the top. PVC pipe was attached to the drain. The pipe then runs a little way to a large trough. The water in the trough is for the goats. Two of my children, however, had a different idea for this trough.

With no swimming pool, and the creek three quarters of a mile off, they decided the water trough was the perfect place to cool off on a hot day. Don't worry, they did unplug the electric fence before taking a dip.

Stephanie Appleton, Ona, West Virginia