Last week, I heard a sound that always brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. It was the ice cream truck. We have a couple of trucks that go through our neighborhood but this was the first time this season. I love hearing it - it is the sound of carefree childhood. Andrew admitted to me that he has never had ice cream from the ice cream truck and I was horrified. We will have to remedy that this year. :)Anyway, two memories are prominent. The first was having a lemonade stand or two in order to make money to spend on ice cream. I remember excitedly racing to the truck with my money clasped in my sweaty hand. Being a new reader, I struggled to read the selections but didn't dare admit to my older friends that I couldn't get through the list. I think I ordered the first thing I could read - a bomb pop or maybe it was a drumstick. Good no matter what.
The second memory is rather different. I remember being downtown Chicago (we lived in the suburbs) with my family and cousins. We had enjoyed a very fun day at Lake Michigan - swimming, building sand castles, and tormenting the only boy at the time (sorry, Ev). As the final treat for the day, our parents bought us ice cream from a truck in the park. I remember vividly that shortly after we started eating our tasty treats, police came and arrested the man selling ice cream. At the time, I thought the man was trying to poison people with the ice cream and I was a little scared to eat mine. :) In retrospect, I realize that he was dealing drugs... :)
As the summer approaches and the ice cream truck rings through neighborhoods beckoning children with it's happy tune and irrestible goodies, I will remember the delightful summers of my childhood. I can't help but smile, feel a bit nostalgic, and wish for magical summers for my own children. I must be getting old. :)
6 comments:
Yes, I have wonderful memories of the ice cream truck too. We would run around the block until we got him to stop.
Eddie Murphy did a REALLY fun comedy skit about the ice cream man.
The police scene would put a damper on things. Glad it didn't turn you off to ice cream forever:)
I only bought ice cream from the Ice Cream Man once, and I got in trouble for it (it was right before supper, after all, and my mom had said NO when I asked, so I tried to hide, but purple popsicle is not so easy to hide) but now i realize the reason we never bought from the ubiquitous ice cream folks in the neighborhood: they were SCARY! dirty, unkempt, probably dealing drugs, too... I hate to say that I probably won't let my kids buy ice cream from them either.
And my dad always said, "Why would you buy overpriced ice cream/popsicles from him when we have it in the freezer?"
I LOVED having a lemonade stand when I was a kid! I'm going to have to do it sometime with my kids. As for icecream trucks -- it always reminds us of the one in Scotland that came at 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9p.m. 364 days of the year! It got to be a little TOO much. :) BTW, a friend there did tell stories about one of the trucks dealing drugs -- must be a common "cover."
I have to have the same admission as Andrew: I've never bought ice cream from an ice cream truck either. It was a combination of growing up in the country and near a small town. Nor did we have a lemonade stand because there was no one to buy lemonade. However, my grandma always had a deep freezer stocked with Schwann's ice cream push-up pops (orange was my favorite) so maybe that's a little like an ice cream truck.....
Oh, wow, I remember being around for one of your lemonade stands. It was my first and only experience with a stand. I also remember all the neighborhood kids crowding around your yard. That was such a long time ago, but boy did we have fun.
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