Friday Five-Dog Days of Summer

A great Friday Five Meme from Presbyterian Gal:

1. What is your sweetest summer memory from childhood? Did it involve watermelon or hand cranked ice cream? Or perhaps a teen summer romance. Which stands out for you?
The tinkle of the bell of the ice cream truck coming down the street. Ice cream bars were somewhere between 15 cents and a quarter. Even though we were pretty poor, mom always had the money for me when the truck came through on those hot summer evenings, when the mothers all sat on the stoop ( a New York thing) smoking and talking and we kids ran up and down the street. The air was lit by fireflies, the burning tips of the cigarettes, what streetlights hadn't been burned out.

2. Describe your all time favorite piece of summer clothing. The one thing you could put on in the summer that would seem to insure a cooler, more excellent day.
Actually, nothing. When I was very little(under four) my mom would let me run around in my shorts with no top on. I was four or five when mom said it was no longer appropriate for me to go topless. I was bummed out!

3. What summer food fills your mouth with delight and whose flavor stays happily with you long after eaten?
A truly ripe peach. You know the kind: you need to eat it over the kitchen sink because it's so juicy. Bliss.

4. Tell us about the summer vacation or holiday that holds your dearest memory.
It's a toss-up between my first summer camp at the Grl Scout camp, and our first week when the kids were little staying out on Cape Cod. For a city girl like me, camp was a whole new and wonderful world. As for Cape Cod, the beach on the bay side was perfect because it was so shallow and there was always a breeze, and Cobie's ice cream was waiting up at the end of the road.

5. Have you had any experience(s) this summer that has drawn you closer to God or perhaps shown you His wonder in a new way?
Spending the summer doing an internship at Saint Diverse was a blessing. It reconfirmed my call in some new ways, and gave me new opportunities to test my wings.

Bonus question: When it is really hot, humid and uncomfortable, what do you do to refresh and renew body and spirit?
Plan A: Sit in the house in the a/c, relaxing on the couch with a good non-school book. A gin and tonic helps, too.
Plan B: Drive down to DelRay and have some Dairy Godmother frozen Wisconsin-style custard.

Stay cool!