It can be the simple things in life that make you happy.

Like stringing green beans. I have a small backyard garden and part of what I planted was some half-runner green beans along a short fence line.

Last week, I picked our second mess for me and my wife Vicki. As we watched television and were stringing our beans, we both thought about growing up and doing the same thing with our families.

I can recall sitting on our forest green front porch swing with my mom and stringing beans when I was younger and growing up in Nolan. Snapping one side and pulling the string downward and then snapping the other end and doing the same thing. Then breaking them into two or three bites, depending on the length of the string bean.

Vicki did the same thing with her mom, aunt and grandfather – stringing beans and enjoying every minute of it. Now we do it together carrying on those family traditions.

There is nothing like fresh vegetables picked right out of the garden. Vicki and I had our green beans with cornbread and some fresh sliced homegrown yellow tomatoes. We slow-cooked them with some potatoes (also out of the garden), some salt and a slice of bacon. You just cannot beat it.

Just spending time with your loved ones and doing small tasks like stringing green beans is priceless.

Vicki and I constantly talk about our similarities in upbringing. It is something that bonds us together. We both have fond memories of our early years, family and friends from those days gone by.

I am sure many of you have the same types of nice, feel-good memories of being reared in a small Appalachian community. Most families had a garden, a front porch and were close-knit.

Recently, we recalled those long summer breaks from one school year to the next. Those were some long, hot summers. Back then we got out of school around the end of May or Memorial Day and did not return until after Labor Day.  Nowadays, they do not get out of school until June and start back in August. In some states it is even early August – during “dog days” – the hottest part of summer. I guess we were lucky but did not fully appreciate how blessed we really were at the time.

Many folks in Appalachia used the summer months to visit relatives and friends in other towns. You may get to see a cousin who lived in another state for the only time in that year.

We didn’t really take what people call vacations – like going to the beach or other activities. But we visited family in other states. Or they would travel back to West Virginia and come back home for a few days.

Times have changed throughout the years. We get older, work, raise our family, and retire if we are lucky.

But we have cherished memories of the past.

Yes, indeed, sometimes it is the simple things that can bring us pleasure. And that should be enough to make you happy.

Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)