DOG: The End of Summer

Even though the ferocious 100 degree heat has gone into remission, I for one cannot wait for Summer to go away. I hate Summer. When it's blistering hot you can't do anything outside. So it's the same as in Winter... only worse. In Winter when it's cold you can bundle up with enough clothes to finally stay warm. In Summer when it's hot, there a finite amount of clothes you can take off to be cool. Once you're down to what God gave you to start with and you're still too hot, you're just fucked.

I know kids hate to see the end of Summer because it means going back to school. I used to feel that way too. But with the fall comes reasonable weather and best of all, football season!!

The above photograph is a picture of me and my cousins Doug & Rick (L to R) from the end of Summer circa 1963. Sitting on a swing at my Aunt's house eating banana popsicles. Man, life sure was simpler back in those days. Doug & Rick had come down from Connecticut to visit their grandmother in Western PA. When they came out to my neighborhood we most always played baseball in some form -wiffle ball, softball, baseball etc.- every day.

I'd venture to say this photo was taken on a break from baseball in the late afternoon in August. When Ice Cream Ike came by driving his modified '57 Chevy truck with no doors and a refrigerated cooler welded to the frame playing Little Brown Jug over his speakers on a continuous loop, we all ran for our nickles and pennies to get a popsicle. It was the equivalent of pressing the Pause button of life. No matter what you were doing, life was temporarily interrupted by the Ice Cream Man.

Once you finished your popsicle you could resume playing whatever game it was you were playing before. I've really never seen a phenomina like it anywhere else. I'd bet we didn't even age for that moment in time. Time did actually stand still!

Looking at that photo now I'm seeing my shorts cut off at the knee which is now the accepted style. The piece of rope I had for a belt, not so much. And you could tell I hated the heat even back then. I almost never wore a shirt in the summer.

Many thanks to whatever family member sent me this photograph. I can't remember who it was. But I certainly do appreciate receiving it. The memories it brought back prompted me to tell this story which apparently is where we're going with this blog at least until Fan makes up his mind what he's going to do with it. As for me, between all my geezing about the old days and more Satch stories, I think we can keep this thing rolling for a while longer for sure. Your comments really help though.

Oh yeah, almost forgot... if the year was indeed 1963, that's the year popsicles went from 5¢ to 6¢.