Baby, it's hot outside

[billeyler]

The brief virga* and clouds that passed over an hour ago didn't cool it off here at all. 95 is hot for me; that's my cutoff temp between bearable and too hot to stand out in the sun.

While driving home tonight, I passed one of those ice cream trucks. This one was a beat-all-to-hell 40 year old van, plastered with a variety of stickers and emblems, but still playing its merry little tune. The driver looked a bit scroungy.

Turning the corner, I had this flashback from probably 45 years ago of me and my younger brother Steve begging my mom for a dime each, so we could run outside to the ice cream van for a Nutty Buddy. It was probably in the 90s, and all the windows were open, so we heard the recorded tune a long ways away.

I remember us being shirtless with little boy bellies, wearing shorts and Keds, being dirty from playing in the yard. I remember standing next to the van after it stopped, my hand sticky and wet clutching the one dime, sweating with excitement. KIds from all over had run up to cash in on the bonanza of colorful cold ice creams. The driver was smiling, wearing a white uniform with a white uniform cap. The truck was clean and shiny.

We got our Nutty Buddies and wandered back home, as happy as an eight-year-old and a six-year-old could be, and as close as brothers could be.

I was smiling and a bit teary-eyed as I pulled into the driveway.



* Virga - > Rain falling from clouds that evaporates before it hits the ground. Common in the desert. Viagra keeps something else from evaporating.

Comments

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

If you misread "virga" to be "viagra" that first sentence makes no sense at all.

uh, not that I did that or anything.

[lggriffiths.livejournal.com]

I so did not do that either. Honest.

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Oh, my! I forgot that people that don't live in the desert don't know about virga! ;-)

I slightly modified the entry.

Thanks!

[bendoutdoors.livejournal.com]

It was funny to see your post start out with the word virga. I've been hearing a lot about it from Darin lately as part of his flight training. And yes, he referred to it as viagra during his flight today...

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Because of the drugs Danny's been on since Denver, he mixes words up sometimes. Vicodin = Viagra.

Today's was cute... pigeons = penguins.

[pdxchuck.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the memory. I remember watching the virgas in the afternoon as they passed between Santa Fe and the Jemez and Sandia mountains.

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

95 unfortunately seems to be the base temperature here in the SLC area in June, July and August, with brief journeys up to 105 or so. :( I dislike anything above 80. Well, 75 or so, really...