It was a rough day. A long day.
Work deadlines and the constant stress of trying to please customers, juggle email replies, return phone calls and complete a slew of other tasks that just didn’t get done plagued me on this particular day.
The kids had to be picked up, I was running late and then we had other household items to stop and purchase. By the time I found a lawnmower I liked, it was almost dinner time. We had to trek over to check on the in-laws who had an unexpected visit to the emergency room earlier in the day. Once we loaded the kids back up and headed home, dinnertime started at bedtime and bedtime was pushed back further. The kids were overtired, but finally found sleep. The weight of a busy day mixed with the need to be suddenly creative is sometimes hard to do. I like to start with a blank slate and have a clear mind when I begin to put pen to paper. On this particular evening the earlier chaos of the day was clouding the Zen of a needed clear mind. My writing flow was choppy and full of interruption until my dear husband walked downstairs and delivered me the perfect little cup of summertime.
As he held out the little white cup to me, he said, “thought you could use this.” I smiled. The white cup, inked with blue drawings of pine trees, whimsical woodland creatures, lakes and names of Ontario cottage towns proudly boasts the Kawartha Dairy logo. The cup was full of my favourite new ice cream flavour, coconut. I sat, with feet up on my desk, enjoying every perfect little spoonful of the cold and creamy treat.
As I took that moment for myself, I began to think of all the childhood memories I have that connected to ice cream. Every summer we would drive for weeks and weeks of road trips, and the surprise of an ice cream cone mid-way through the day was always a welcome treat. I remember ice cream melting down my hands and arms from the summer heat and my lack of ice cream-eating vitesse. Summer days spent walking up dirt roads of a campground to go and grab an ice cream cone, or hopping out of the boat at the marina to run in and grab a cone are happy little memories I still carry. As a child I would always pick elaborate concoctions of flavours if my parents would let us get two scoops. Tiger tail and cotton candy were the frontrunners, and banana and chocolate were the runner-up. My little brother would always get bubble gum and my older brother would order something more grown up like pralines and cream or strawberry (clearly, he had a refined ice cream palette).
Nowadays as I take my kids for road trips and camping excursions, of course we stop for ice cream enroute. They love that little cupful of summertime just like I did. They don’t get as creative with flavours as I once did – they are purists through and through and they enjoy their little cup of cold and creamy summertime simply, with vanilla.
By Danielle McNelly
Nortech Windows, Doors & Sunrooms
