We lived on the banks of the Tennessee River, and we owned the summers when we
were girls. We ran wild through humid summer days that never ended but only
melted one into the other. We floated down rivers of weekdays with no school, no
rules , no parents, and no constructs other than our fantasies. We were good
girls, my sister and I. We had nothing to rebel against. This was just life as
we knew it, and we knew the summers to be long and to be
ours.
我们生活在田纳西两岸。在少女时代，我们拥有最明媚的夏天。我们在一个又一个延绵无尽的潮湿夏日里放肆奔跑；在平日的时光中漂浮在河上，不用上学，没有规条，没有家长，没有构想，有的只是我们的幻想。我和我的妹妹都是很好的女孩。我们也从不反抗。这就是我们所知道的生活，也知道这个悠长的夏天是属于我们的。
The
road that ran past our house was a one-lane rural route . Every morning, after
our parents had gone to work, I’d wait for the mail lady to pull up to our box.
Some days I would put enough change for a few stamps into a mason jar lid and
leave it in the mailbox. I hated bothering mail lady with this transaction,
which made her job take longer. But I liked that she knew that someone in our
house sent letters into the outside world.
从我们家门前蜿蜒而过的小路是一条单线农村小道。每个早晨，待父母出去工作之后，我就会等待邮件女士拉开我们的邮箱。有时候我会在邮箱里放一个玻璃瓶，瓶中放足够的零钱用以换取一些邮票。虽然我很讨厌这些事情会打扰到邮件女士，使得她拖长工作。但我却喜欢让她知道，在我们家里，有人正把信寄望世界各方。
I
liked walking to the mailbox in my bare feet and leaving footprints on the dewy
grass. I imagined that feeling the wetness on the bottom of my feet made me a
poet. I had never read poetry, outside of some Emily Dickinson. But I imagined
that people who knew of such things would walk to their mailboxes through the
morning dew in their bare feet.
我喜欢赤脚走到邮箱前，在带着露水的草地上留下一串脚印。想象一下脚底这种湿漉漉的感觉就让我觉得自己像个诗人。除了狄更生一些作品外，我从来没有读过诗歌。但我可以想象到，如果人们知道这种感觉，也会赤脚踏着清晨的露水走向他们的邮箱。
We
planned our weddings with the help of Barbie dolls and the tiny purple wild
flowers growing in our side yard. We became scientists and tested concoctions of
milk, orange juice, and mouthwash. We ate handfuls of bittersweet chocolate
chips and licked peanut butter off spoons. When we ran out of sweets to eat, we
snitched sugary Flintstones vitamins out of the medicine cabinet. We became
masters of the Kraft macaroni and cheese lunch, and we dutifully called our
mother at work three times a day to give her updates on our adventures. But
don’t call too often or speak too loudly or whine too much, we told
ourselves, or else they’ll get annoyed and she’ll get fired and the summers will
end.
在芭比娃娃和长在我们侧园的紫色小野花的帮助下，我们构想着婚礼。我们变成科学家，测试牛奶、橙汁和漱口水混合物。我们吃着满手的苦甜参半的巧克力脆片，舔舐调羹上的花生酱。当我们没有甜食了，我们就从药柜中拿出含糖的维生素。我们变成能做卡夫通心粉加奶酪午餐的大师，每天三次给在工作中的母亲去电尽职尽责地告诉她我们的冒险游戏。但我们告诉自己，电话不能太频繁，也不能太大声或抱怨太多，否则他们就会厌烦，母亲会被辞退，那我们的夏天就要结束了。
were girls. We ran wild through humid summer days that never ended but only
melted one into the other. We floated down rivers of weekdays with no school, no
rules , no parents, and no constructs other than our fantasies. We were good
girls, my sister and I. We had nothing to rebel against. This was just life as
we knew it, and we knew the summers to be long and to be
ours.
我们生活在田纳西两岸。在少女时代，我们拥有最明媚的夏天。我们在一个又一个延绵无尽的潮湿夏日里放肆奔跑；在平日的时光中漂浮在河上，不用上学，没有规条，没有家长，没有构想，有的只是我们的幻想。我和我的妹妹都是很好的女孩。我们也从不反抗。这就是我们所知道的生活，也知道这个悠长的夏天是属于我们的。
The
road that ran past our house was a one-lane rural route . Every morning, after
our parents had gone to work, I’d wait for the mail lady to pull up to our box.
Some days I would put enough change for a few stamps into a mason jar lid and
leave it in the mailbox. I hated bothering mail lady with this transaction,
which made her job take longer. But I liked that she knew that someone in our
house sent letters into the outside world.
从我们家门前蜿蜒而过的小路是一条单线农村小道。每个早晨，待父母出去工作之后，我就会等待邮件女士拉开我们的邮箱。有时候我会在邮箱里放一个玻璃瓶，瓶中放足够的零钱用以换取一些邮票。虽然我很讨厌这些事情会打扰到邮件女士，使得她拖长工作。但我却喜欢让她知道，在我们家里，有人正把信寄望世界各方。
I
liked walking to the mailbox in my bare feet and leaving footprints on the dewy
grass. I imagined that feeling the wetness on the bottom of my feet made me a
poet. I had never read poetry, outside of some Emily Dickinson. But I imagined
that people who knew of such things would walk to their mailboxes through the
morning dew in their bare feet.
我喜欢赤脚走到邮箱前，在带着露水的草地上留下一串脚印。想象一下脚底这种湿漉漉的感觉就让我觉得自己像个诗人。除了狄更生一些作品外，我从来没有读过诗歌。但我可以想象到，如果人们知道这种感觉，也会赤脚踏着清晨的露水走向他们的邮箱。
We
planned our weddings with the help of Barbie dolls and the tiny purple wild
flowers growing in our side yard. We became scientists and tested concoctions of
milk, orange juice, and mouthwash. We ate handfuls of bittersweet chocolate
chips and licked peanut butter off spoons. When we ran out of sweets to eat, we
snitched sugary Flintstones vitamins out of the medicine cabinet. We became
masters of the Kraft macaroni and cheese lunch, and we dutifully called our
mother at work three times a day to give her updates on our adventures. But
don’t call too often or speak too loudly or whine too much, we told
ourselves, or else they’ll get annoyed and she’ll get fired and the summers will
end.
在芭比娃娃和长在我们侧园的紫色小野花的帮助下，我们构想着婚礼。我们变成科学家，测试牛奶、橙汁和漱口水混合物。我们吃着满手的苦甜参半的巧克力脆片，舔舐调羹上的花生酱。当我们没有甜食了，我们就从药柜中拿出含糖的维生素。我们变成能做卡夫通心粉加奶酪午餐的大师，每天三次给在工作中的母亲去电尽职尽责地告诉她我们的冒险游戏。但我们告诉自己，电话不能太频繁，也不能太大声或抱怨太多，否则他们就会厌烦，母亲会被辞退，那我们的夏天就要结束了。
