Summer memories
This evening I hear children playing. Obviously they don't have to come home when the street lights come on.....as we don't have streetlights. Their back yard is lighted with landscape lights and gas powered "Tiki Torches." sissies. Are they playing kick the can? I'm sure they've never heard of the game as they are busy with their above ground swimming pool, tether ball, soccer net. As I listen to the older children playing outside and the gradual quieting of street noise, I strain to hear the Good Humor man. I won't matter, I'm already in bed. Today it's not Good Humor man but the man down the street with his beat up van selling popsicles for a buck! The same tune plays for the whole summer.....Turkey in the F** Straw!! I think of ugly things to do the truck and the sound system. Cynical me figures he has more than ice cream in that modern truck. On the other side of the house I hear an old fashion phone ring, not the modern bleeps, boops or catchy tunes like today's phones. Brothers talking to girl friends? No, televison playing an old movie.....but just for a moment I thought back........ |
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| Dh"s kids were over today and as I listened to the neighbors in their pool, I told his kids that when I was young we had a pool and then we got started on pools. But I kept thinking about "The" pool we had when I was young. I miss having a pool. Dh doesn't want one....he didn't want a dog either. My hope is to get him to change his mind on this too, before I'm too old to enjoy it. Do kids today even know what kick the can is? I haven't thought of that in forever. I loved that game. |
| The neighborhood ice cream man (heard the Van Halen song this morning, what a great song!) also plays Turkey in the Straw and his "ice cream wagon" is a beat-up old van. Our Good Humor man was John and he wore white pants, a white shirt, a bow tie and a cap. His real ice cream wagon was white with Good Humor on the side and the little doors for all the goodies. We had a public park pool about a mile away and we walked there every day. WALKED. On non-pool days I stayed inside and read books from the public library. We had a/c because my dad was a mason contractor and cut holes in our brick house and installed big window units. Only downstairs though. Not in the bedrooms. My bedroom faced the street and I would lay in bed and watch the lights of the cars go by. The cars made a swoosh sound that I can still hear. I wish I were 10 again. |
| The baby doll PJ's made me laugh. I was not a chubby kid (that came in middle age), and they still crept up! No AC - and still only have a couple window units. We finally got them when Todd and I worked 12 hour nights and needed to be able to sleep in the heat of the day. Good timing to discuss this - as we are already at 87 and it's only 1030. Humid too. ugh. No ice cream men or ice cream trucks - as I never lived in a town, just the years I was in college. |
Humidity........I bow to all of you! How do you breathe? The other day the dew point was 13 degrees and the humidity was 3% . Will be a few weeks before moisture moves in from Mexico and humidity gets to an unbearable 30%  and rain chances improve. Unfortunately since we cool through evaporative coolers, as the humidity rises our cooling ability decreases, grrrr. Speaking of Good Humor....Other day had a craving (or memory) for a cherry dipped soft serve cone. Haven't a clue where to find one any more....DQ? That's about 25 miles into town. Then I noticed CuisineArt has a home soft serve ice cream machine........NOT what I need, but just for a moment I considered. But what about the cherry dunk? Childhood city pool was too far to walk, no bus, so required the reluctant Mother Transport. Then the pool was not heated........COLD! Crowded! Hated that pool and I LOVE water. When brothers were working as camp counselors they received a discount for me to attend day camp 2 or 3 days a week! That meant pool time in a private club pool with warmer water! By end of summer my swim suits were white from the chlorine, I was brown with tan and my hair a nice chlorine green. Fond memories. |
| I've never heard of cherry dip top. Only chocolate and butterscotch. Cherry would be pretty good. As far as humidity, I don't remember it ever being in the 90s and humid when I was growing up. Must be global warming. Now I just complain a lot and try to avoid being outside. Which is not easy to do, what with Bob. And I don't ride when it's over 85. |
| Our DQ's here have cherry dip - time for a MN roadtrip!! Temps - it just hit 90F degrees (32.7C) and 60% humidity....and that's with no rain forecasted here for us today....  |
My uncle drove an ice cream truck, part-time, when I was very young. I felt so priviledged having an "in" with the ice cream truck man.  Favorite memories...catching lightening bugs and keeping them in a mason jar on my bedstand overnight. Susan - our dewpoint numbers were in the mid 50s here this past weekend and we were celebrating.  Numbers that low are unheard of in June in the South. We learn to take shallow breaths in the summer.  If you step outside and breath in too deeply, you might drown. |
| I can't even hear the word humidity w/o cringing and feeling icky. I cannot stannnnnnd texas. And who the heck would move to Houston?! oh yeah... It's sad because we have to avoid the ice cream truck man. Back in the day, Paulo described our old ice cream man ...and he was always the guy that smiled and we trusted. Now we have nothing but illegals selling ice cream in a truck that used to be some delivery truck painted over with good humor stickers. Not the first place I'd trust my kids to get ice cream from... I love hearing the ice cream truck man b/c it brings back good memories ...and it's a shame that won't be what my kids have. |
 but I bet you have great skin! No drying there! Alligators got nothing on me! Just checked, tem 95 degrees, dew at 14, 5% humidity...and we have wind. I have a laundry load to hang out, want to take bids on how many minutes it will take to dry Maybe never get out of the basket! |
| It's not just the humidity but the dew point. Ours is 64 which is getting quite uncomforatable, we're getting a great rain storm at this time which we need badly. Had some rain during the early morning hours and now it's really coming down. Temps only in the 70's but once the sun comes out it will be closer to 90 and I bet the humidty and dew pts go even higher. |
| When you guys are thinking of ice cream trucks, are you thinking of the ones that are yellow and white and play cute songs? Those are the only ones I have ever seen, they are vans and they are usually nice looking. If I remember right, they're blue bunny trucks. They have the popsicles that are shaped like cartoon characters. They seem pretty safe to me, I've gone to them as a kid and I take my niece and nephew to them sometimes. |
ICH wrote: It's not just the humidity but the dew point. Ours is 64 which is getting quite uncomforatable, we're getting a great rain storm at this time which we need badly. Had some rain during the early morning hours and now it's really coming down. Temps only in the 70's but once the sun comes out it will be closer to 90 and I bet the humidty and dew pts go even higher. Looks like the storm is in the county just above us....hot and miserable here. Had a good rain this morning though and we sure needed it. Have severe watches out until 8 tonight. |
| All independents down here , not enough population to justify a company, like Good Humor or Blue Bunny, coming in. As a result prices and quality vary. We have the guys with the push carts and a little bicycle bell closer into town, they have to stock up with dry ice and sell quickly. And yes, a good front for drug selling, a couple of busts each summer. Little market by the vet's office sells individual ice cream bars and popsicles........but that's not a soft serve cone dipped in cherry! I'll even settle for chocolate dipped.......LOL! |
| We could hear it from blocks away. Run screaming "ICE CREAM MAN" to Mom and she would sometimes give us the money to get ice cream...11 cents. I'm ##years old and just tonight I said loudly to dh "LIGHTNING BUGS". I've been waiting for them. |
| Yep, I saw lightning bugs tonight as I was driving home from teaching classes. Calm night, makes them happy glow bugs! Another memory - we had a huge garden (veggies). My mom would wake us up at 6am in the summer to go out and weed for 3-4 hours "before it got hot"...ugh...it's a wonder I like gardens at all! Child labor at it's finest....  But, we also did get to ride our horses some days after all our chores were done. My 2 sisters and I would pack a supper, our county maps and take off on our horses. We just had to be home before the sun set.  |
| I have not seen lightning bugs in years. Maybe I'm not out after dark! My favorite ice cream from the Good Humor man was the standard Good Humor bar. Vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate on a stick. My second fave was the almond bar. I've seen those in the stores--maybe I'll buy a box this summer. But I won't be 10 again. Pout. |
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