A 30-Year Love Affair

My ears perked up. Sort of like what happens with a dog when they hear something that surprises them or they're trying to identify a sound. As much as they can perk anyway.

My wife gave me a quizzical look. Then I grinned.

"Do you hear it," I said.

"Ummm... what?," she asks.

I tuned my ears for that sound I thought I just heard -- a sound a child falls in love with at an early age while on summer break from school --- just to make sure. Yup, there it was again.

Then my wife heard it and responded, "Is that an ice cream truck?"

"Yes it is!" I exclaimed, as I jumped up and scrambled for some cash.

Where's some cash? No cash. Stupid debit card..... where's some change?

"Honey, where's all our change," I'm screaming through the house like a madman.

She gets up and starts picking coins out of her change box on the dresser.

Impatiently I reach over, grab the box, and turn it upside down as coins rain down into my hand.

"You're crazy," she says as I grin.... "Go get me a Brown Mule ice cream bar"

"OK," I'm yelling as I'm running out of the house to locate the source of the music.

It's already passed our house going up into the cul-de-sac. So I wait. It comes back towards us. Turns up the side road cul-de-sac. And starts coming my way.

And I'm sort of laughing at myself and the situation, but more grinning as they pull up beside me.

I'm sure the neighbors were amused. They may have wondered 'What does this idiot think he is, five years old?"

Frankly, I don't care what they may have thought. The ice cream truck was here.

I was happy. I picked through the coins counting how much I had. Just enough for something for both of us.

She got her ice cream and I got myself an orange pushup. Sweet.

I know I sound like a child, but I have had a 30-year love affair with ice cream trucks. My sister and I both can hear one coming from a mile away. It's just a sound that brings back a lot of memories of "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, I need some quarters. THE ICE CREAM TRUCK'S COMING!!!!"

Except now it's, "Honey, where's all our freaking change!!!???"

We have an ice cream truck that drives through the campus of the college I work from time to time in spring and even during the summer when the students aren't there. Why when students aren't there, I don't know... I guess they know that I'll give them business if I'm around.

My wife had her first experience with an ice cream truck a few years ago when we were living in an apartment not too far from where we went to college. She lived out in the country growing up; we lived in a neighborhood full of kids that was on the regular route of area trucks. We would assail the truck en-masse, scan the pictures of the treats plastered on the side of the truck with wonder "What do I want, what do I want?" and then fight to get to the window to get our treat.

She never had that experience.

I have always thought of ice cream trucks as a special slice of Americana. As a right of passage for all children. Obviously not everyone has that experience.

The first time she heard the jingle of that magical music, she was like "What is that weird music?"

I had already beat her to the punch -- before she was able to say anything I had leaped all the way across the room to look out the window for an ice cream truck.

I got the same response then as I did the other day -- "you're funny". This all went down on Saturday.

So this evening after getting home from work, I heard the music again. Before it was on our road. Didn't have to look out. I had faith it was turning up our road.

It did. And I had some change ready. And I got a Rocket Pop this time.

I don't know if our neighborhood is a regular stomping ground for this ice cream truck, but if it is I'm really looking forward to the rest of this summer.