Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Those Were The Days...& an Ode To Felix


"I don't cry over spilt milk,
but a fallen scoop of ice cream is enough to ruin my whole day."  
~Terri Guillemets

I spent a decade living in a small town 
nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Taos, New Mexico.
Best known for it's stellar skiing, fine arts, exceptional cuisine,
and the kind of breathtaking scenery that allowed one to indulge in
every outdoor activity you can imagine.

But one thing Taos didn't have was an "ice cream man."

The most I'd seen driving around there was an old school bus
that had morphed into a Grateful Dead mural on wheels.

Did you have an "ice cream man" in your old neighborhood?

When I was growing up, we had an ice cream man,
and where I lived, he ruled the streets.

He stocked the best of the best...
Not only a full display of good humor products,
but tons of candy & all the crazy practical joke toys that 
kids loved and parents hated.
Like those snappers you'd throw on the ground that sounded like a firecracker.
Cherry bombs. Stink bombs. The works. Even parachute men!
He had his own special song that played, 
and his name was proudly displayed above the windshield...
 "FELIX"

When all the kids on the block heard his tune,
we would run into our houses like Speedy Gonzales 
to raid our piggy banks or beg our parents for spare change
so we could make our score.

Of course, we had bionic hearing back then,
we could hear his song playing from blocks away.
Looking back, I wonder if he had subliminal messages in his music...
It would literally put us in a trance, 
as if he were The Pied Piper luring us in.

All the neighborhood kids would line up
for italian ices, red white & blue bomb pops,
choclate eclair & strawberry shortcake ice cream.
We'd stuff root beer bottle caps, sweet tarts,
jolly rancher sticks, fun dip & & candy rings 
in our pockets to fuel us for
the next round of fun in the streets.

Ahhhh, yes, those were the days....
when we were wild eyed and carefree...
sitting on the curb with sticky fingers & cherry red stains on our lips 
from the popsicles we'd just consumed...
The days when we'd ride our bikes alll dayyy looong.
The days when we'd build go carts
and act out scenes from X-Men comics in the streets...
Torturing locusts by day and catching fireflys by night.

Those were the days...
Nowadays, I like to fanc-i-fy my ice cream whenever possible.
I like to scoop ice cream in liquor glasses and chop up fresh ingredients.
Something about it makes it feel...special...indulgent.

Pictured above is good ol' fashioned vanilla ice cream
served in a cobalt blue margarita glass and topped with blueberries, kiwi & coconut.
The other is served in an eclectic clear martini glass with strawberries, chocolate, and sliced almonds.

How fun is that?!!
What about you?
If you could choose any toppings you wanted,
how would you dress up your ice cream?

I'm thinking it's time for an ice cream party...
yet another great way to draw in the youth 
and stir up some meaningful conversation :)

13 comments:

  1. Too cute! It brings back so many fun childhood memories! Yes, we did have bionic hearing...and maybe you're right about that music having subliminal messages ;)...from blocks away...it gave us the time to run home for money and get to the curb just in time to grab the good humor man and our favorite treat! Chocoholic that I am, my favorite was fudgesicles~ but these days, I'm more versatile...love more flavors than I should :)...esp. haagen daz dulce de leche and Oberweis chocolate milkshakes! Oh don't even get me started LOL...one day when I first had the O choc shake, I thought I'd entered the gates of heaven...even heard music - I'm sure of it~~ ~ Loved it so much, I went back for a second one later that day! Yikes! I don't recommend it on a regular basis!!! Life is sweet! :)

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  2. I remember the same kind of fun,,,Good old days.

    Velva

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  3. So many wonderful childhood memories. As always, I'm smiling. You have such a gift with words. Those images just leap off the computer screen. Thank you for sharing with me! I hope you are having a blessed day.

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  4. Okay, first ~ those pictures are fabulous! Now, on to the ice cream man ~ We had a good humor man, but my favorite was the Carvel store right across the street from where I lived and how cool the owner, John, was. Every Halloween, there'd be kids in costumes lined up around the block, waiting for their free ice cream cone. What a guy! He knew all of us by name and always smiled when we came up to his window. Hopefully, he's retired now and enjoying himself.

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  5. Oooh your ice cream looks great! Blueberries are my favorite ice cream topper for sure! :)

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  6. Snow Cones were my favorites or the Strawberry Shortcakes. Those pictures make my mouth water and you sold me on the Strawberries, chocolate and almonds. That looks heavenly! I also love pralines. Yum! Ahhh...to be a kid again and consume the ice cream without worrying about it sticking around in unwanted places. :)

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  7. Such wonderful childhood memories of mine, as well for my children when they were little, waiting for the "ice cream man" and that annoying music that is played on the merry-go-rounds. Now, I don't see any type of ice cream trucks in my daughter's neighborhood, I think they are going out of style now!

    You, bella, have given me such great ideas for ice cream topping...with the yummy coconut, the berries, and the chips. You and I seem to love the elegance of the cobalt blue. As I said in the past, everyone should have at least one cobalt blue item in their home...if not cobalt blue...then amber colored glass. The presentation and the photos are beautiful!

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  8. How pretty and yummy! Oh I'm loving all of your beautiful photos so much! And your writing too, of course! Happy SITS day to you--stopped by from SITS today. Gonna follow you now. Have a great day.

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  9. What a fun post! I did not have an ice cream man in the neighborhood as a child. However, now that I've moved south, I get to enjoy the sound of the ice cream truck rolling through the neighborhood every afternoon in the summer. It is a welcome sound to my ears after the cold winter! Happy SITS day to you!

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  10. That kiwi looks delicious - never thought to pair it with cocount - YUM! :)

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  11. We had an ice-cream truck when I was a kid! It was fun, but I lived in a small town and it wasn't creepy like the scary guys driving these cruddy vans around these day! Ha!

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  13. Oh the ice cream truck...let's just say I was a fast mover when I heard one of those come around. I grew up in the country so I only got to see one when I was playing at my friends' houses. My topping choice now is candied macadamia nuts.

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