April 23, 2010

Ice Cream Initiation






The four of us were sitting down to a nice, quiet dinner when I heard something.  It was faint.  It was coming from outside.  It was The Entertainer.

That little song brought back the feeling of childhood summers.  We wore our swimsuits all day migrating from pool to pool.  Eventually the neighborhood kids would bring out the hoses and we would have a soak war.  On those especially hot days we would hear that beautiful tinkling that was The Entertainer. 

THE ICE CREAM MAN!!!!!!!!!  Everybody would race into their respective houses and try to scrounge up as much change as they could.  If we were lucky we would find a dollar bill.  Then we could get the really good stuff.

Back to dinner and the faint song in the distance.  My eyes met Tim’s and at that moment we were thinking the same exact thing.  “GET SOME MONEY, IT’S THE ICE CREAM MAN.  LUKE, JACK, LET’S GO!!”  Tim raced upstairs, the boys and I raced outside.  We couldn’t miss it.

Luckily my keen ears heard it in time.  The ice cream man turned out to be a really nice lady driving an old mail carrier truck with colorful stickers on the side.  Since it’s a new century she even offered us a punch card.  Awesome, she’d be back.

Somehow I managed to run back inside for my camera while Tim and the boys chatted her up.  I had to record this.  She found out about our daily picture and decided to be our photographer.

In the pure excitement and kidlike exhilaration we bid her adieu with a “See ya later.”  She even hugged me.  The Ice Cream Lady hugged me!  She’ll be back; we’ve got a punch card.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ice cream, Ice cream we all scream for Ice Cream... You kids crack me up....glad I had a small part in history...Love to all meemaw

Anonymous said...

What great memories!! I love ice cream! The punch card is a great idea, and you don't have to scramble for money when time is crucial! Love, Nana

Valerie said...

When Mike was a kid, his mom told him the ice cream man was the music man. "Michael, lets go outside and wave at the music man." He still holds a grudge!

Lindsey said...

Val, I used to tell Luke that when he was little but I decided that I was being such a spoiler. I'm glad I finally saw the light.