Summer begins and ends with the sound of the screen door. Although most screen doors open and close year round, that sloooowwww swing open followed by a sharp slap shut sounds oh so different when the days are long and lazy. The screen door gets a summer workout as barefoot kids run in and out a hundred times a day. How many times did Momma yell, shut the screen door, you’re letting the mosquitoes in!?
In fact, she says that to me every time I go home.
I particularly like the sound of the screen door at the lake. I consider that music to be the song of summer. The slapping sound echoes across the cove.
I take pictures of screen doors everywhere I go.
Like snowflakes (and people), no two are alike.
The screen doors in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, are especially ornate to match the quirky Victorian architecture.
Below is the screen door on our back porch. It doesn’t make the essential “pranging, wranging, springing” sound (Donald Harington’s words). We need to fix that.
We can thank Hannah Harger of Manchester, Iowa for the invention of this essential. According to the book Women Invent!, Harger is credited with the screen door patent. She was tired of the flies bothering her babies while she worked in her kitchen, so she did something about it.
And there you have it. With this morning’s swing of the screen door, we greet another day. Another fabulous day.
What sounds do you associate with summer?
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
“How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it.” Shel Silverstein
Musical Pairing:
Our Song, Taylor Swift
Colene and Tom says
June 8, 2015 at 9:33 amTom, “lawn mowers” Colene “birds singing” I can relate to the sound of the screen door, even though we do not have one now. Grandma did. Happy Summer Talya.
Talya Tate Boerner says
June 9, 2015 at 6:42 amThe birds are going crazy this morning at my house. Thanks Colene and Tom!
Gary Henderson says
June 8, 2015 at 10:09 amLawnmowers, kids screaming, and the “night chorus,” although I don’t get much of that in suburban Atlanta. It was almost deafening in Eutaw, though.
Talya Tate Boerner says
June 9, 2015 at 6:43 amNight chorus is a good one.
Rhondi St.Onge Peacock says
June 8, 2015 at 3:18 pmA wooden screen door is the perfect sound of summer. Always had one growing up. So, when I purchased a cottage and the doors were sliders, I put one on the bedroom door so that I could always here the sound. Great post!
Talya Tate Boerner says
June 9, 2015 at 6:43 amThank you! A good door can make all the difference, right?
Georgeanne says
June 8, 2015 at 9:50 pmI love screen doors. I really associate them with some buildings at my beloved summer camp–what’s more summer than that?
For me, though, the quintessential summer sound is the hum of cicadas at dusk. That’s when I know it’s REALLY summer!
Talya Tate Boerner says
June 9, 2015 at 6:44 amYes, I love the sound of cicadas, too. Ah the days of summer camp.
Linda@There and Back Again says
June 9, 2015 at 4:08 pmAh, I remember the sound of the screen door at our cabin on the Lake of the Ozarks. One of the key sounds of my childhood. Thanks for the reminder.
Joyce says
June 11, 2015 at 6:01 pmWe had a screen door in my childhood home, but don’t have one in our current house. I wish we had one.
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/
Dorothy Johnson says
June 13, 2015 at 9:06 amLoved this post and all the pictures of screen doors. We haven’t had a screen door in a long time, but I remember the slap of it well from my childhood. I associate the smell of fresh mown grass, approaching rain, honeysuckle and gardenias with summer days. Echoes of children playing, cicadas courting and mockingbirds scolding can take me back, too. One of my very favorite things is the way fireflies sparkle in the dusk. Thanks for the memories.
Barbara Tate says
July 30, 2016 at 10:18 amOne of my favorite sounds of summer is lake water lapping against the boat. Love your pictures of screen doors.