Week 1 - The Ice Cream Man!

This will be a bit of a repeat for anyone who follows me on Facebook, sorry. :)

Most of my childhood was spent growing up in Saint-Bruno, Quebec. I have many memories of hearing the Ice Cream Man's truck coming down the road. Any kid within earshot of the music would stop what they were doing and run into the house yelling "The ice cream man! The ice cream man! Can I get one?!" Sounds cliche, but that's the truth.

I haven't heard nor seen any ice cream truck in Ottawa since we moved here in 1982. Ice cream vendors on modified bicycles, sure. But even they're pretty scarce these days.

Last Wednesday, our daughter came running into the house yelling "The Ice Cream Man is pulling into our bay! A real ice cream truck!" Could it be?

We all went outside to take a look and sure enough, there he was.

The music was different and it sounded more digital, than the old bells and chimes, but it did look very much like what I remembered as a kid.

He parked in that location for about 20-25 minutes. The longer he was there, the more people came out to buy and soft ice cream cone, sundae or banana split. Not just the pre-made ice cream bars, or popsicles -- the soft ice cream, with the option of chocolate dipping and nuts!

I remember as a kid, how he would fill the cone and then flip it upside down and dip it into the container of chocolate sauce. How did it not fall out of the cone? I remember a friend re-enacting the procedure with his own ice cream cone, and seeing it fall to the hot pavement.

For some kids, this will be one of the highlights of their summer. The summer that the Ice Cream Man came to their neighbourhood.

FYI, my wife got me one -- chocolate-dipped and covered with nuts. Yum! :)