Pop!

Someone sent me this cartoon before I left... and boy was it pertinent.

 It was very hot.

I meant that as in the sound corn makes when it gets hot and turns into popcorn. But for those of you who aren't from the midwest... it's also what we call that flavored fizzy drink that comes in a can. Pop :) One of the many reasons I love coming home - to see signs on the road advertising Pop, and glad I'm not the only one wondering if they have Mello Yellow. (it's back you know...)

I made a rule that the bike could not stop moving until it was in the shade. Rule #2 was that when I started getting mad because I was too hot I was required to find a frozen snickers :) Needless to say I contributed my fair share to the Mars brand... until I came across my beloved Schwan's man... oh how I've missed the Shwans man and his Schwan's truck. They used to drive around your neighborhood selling frozen food, but the only thing we ever got was a box of ice cream sandwiches once in a blue moon.

The last day of RAGBRAI my butt was in a lot of pain, I was tired and hot and the end was in sight, which is actually not a good thing. Needless to say I demanded that the semi pull over if only for the memories...

I've found a lot of things from my childhood are not nearly as impressive as they were when I was a kid. You know that house down the street that seemed like a mansion, only when you drove by last summer just to check it paled in comparison to your recollection. Or... I had a teacher who I thought was absolutely beautiful when I was in elementary school. Years later I asked my parents if she really was the most beautiful woman in the world and they looked at me rather puzzled because although she wore Exclamation perfume... there wasn't much else to exclaim about... (the slogan for the perfume was "make a statement...without saying a word!" ha I think you can still buy it at Wal-Mart!

Well I can tell you that although I've had a lot of other kinds of ice cream sandwiches that may actually have more pizzazz, more girth, and a lot more calories... the reminiscing that overcame me while that ice cream sandwich melted in my hands made up for it.
But... I would like to say that although a few things haven't held up as well as my memories may have recalled... The movie Goonies, The Boy Who Could Fly, and pop from a big glass bottle have stood the test of time.

I can't find The Boy Could Fly, but Luckily Goonies is on tv for free all the time and pop counts as food...  so do ice cream sandwiches :)