Ice Cream Truck

2009-08-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

We got a phone call tonight around 7:45pm... it was our neighbors from two doors down.

"Dean, hear that music? It's the Ice Cream Truck!"

Today was a long hot day, so I sprang to action. My wife actually bowled me over as she made a dash for the stairs. We both yelled for our 4 year old son to get up and come with us to catch the Ice Cream Truck.

We made it outside in record time, and we can hear the music but the truck is nowhere in sight! My wife strolls up ahead of the two of us, and as she widens the gap between us I hoist my son up on my shoulders - he's in his PJs and has no idea why he is not in bed, and knows something is up.

We got to the main street out of our neighborhood, and we still cannot see the truck, but we still can hear the music. We start hoofing it home, and we run into the neighbors that called us.

"Did you see where it went?"

"No...", I answered.

I was on a mission - my wife stopped to talk while my son and I made our way to our driveway. I noticed our neighbor's husband was but a few paces behind us, and he walked up his driveway and into his garage.

My son and I hopped into the car and backed out of the driveway, I was determined to find the truck. As I check over my shoulder I see my neighbor zoom down the driveway and down the road on his mountain bike. I catch up and silently we coordinate that he'll go one way, and I'll go the other.

We stopped and picked up my wife, and we rolled down the windows to follow the music... at first we did not hear it, but once we'd passed the park we could hear it in the distance.

And then we saw a grown man run out and across the street, be barely checked for traffic. He was definitely running for the ice cream truck.

We followed him down the lane way and into the adjacent neighborhood, we were right - he was in line for ice cream. As we looked around for my neighbor on his bike, I saw him veer into view. I waved and he gave the thumbs up; we'd tracked him down.

And was it worth the effort? As we all sat down on the curb to enjoy our treats, my son smiles with a chocolate halo around his mouth; he said thank you, no prompting required.

Was it worth it? It most certainly was.

A Way To Be Social AND Active in the Summer

2009-08-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

Last year a friend of mine came up with the idea to start a group that would meet every saturday during the summer and play sports. More specifically, sports none of us were any good at. She called it "I Suck At Sports" or ISAS for short. Each Saturday we would meet and play whichever sport she picked a few days prior, ranging from softball to dodgeball to flag football and so on. What this did was help us get outside on a consistent basis and actually get some exercise. I don't know about any OTHER writers out there, but I prefer to do my writing while sitting on the couch eating junk food! Not only did this make us more active, it also got us to meet new people and socialize. By the end of the summer, it became the time and place to catch up with friends and try to make new ones.

Well, as this summer winds down, I thought I would encourage you all to think about starting your own ISAS group in your own cities. It does take some effort to get started, but when you look back on the summer and see all the fun times you had with friends goofing around and the new people you've met, you'll find it was worth it.

I'm already anxious for next summer!

All Wordy And Junk

Ice Cream Truck

A Way To Be Social AND Active in the Summer