Go Play Outside

Summertime is more than the scorching heat of the day and the flying critters that bother you. The summer to me is a flavor all on it's own that brings a different meaning to "I'm home". Being raised outdoors and becoming befriends with my water-hose I created the taste of summer. The sweat on my face from running around all day chasing my siblings and running away from them. The heated breeze that carried the smell of the neighbor burring trash with it as it cooled my cheeks. The water from the water toys that sprinkled my sister, brother, and me.

Those small smells created the summer taste from so much around me. However, the taste that made me the happiest is the cold kool cup that graced my lips. The top of it always had a layer of sweet syrup awaiting my childish desire for sugar. This kool cup was made by my mother the day before so that i could indulge under the being summer sun. All you need are styrofoam cups, juice, and a freezer; sometimes a popsicle stick.

The best part of the kool cup wasn't even the flavor of its beginning but the flavor of its middle. Once the top has been eaten away, the best part is when you turn the cup upside down and place the top into the cup to become the bottom. Revealing a newer sweeter top I eat it as if it were a snow cone, using my teeth as the spoon.

After finishing my snack to cool me down the day is at its windiest and its coolest. Still, one more snack remains to be indulged on this fine summer day before dinner is served. Hearing the gravel of our dirt driveway shift I then know my father has come home from work. Never coming home empty handed he bears a great big watermelon for my siblings and I to share. I rush inside to tell my mama and she hands me the salt and warns me to use very little.

Washing my hands with the water-hose that's connected to the side of the house I rush to get the first slice. Yet, before I can run to the salty sweet flavor of watermelon I must take a drink from the water-hose that's become my best of friends. The hose is my bestie because through all my hours of playing with my siblings, I always need some water. Running to my red, sweet, and tasty treat I grab the piece handed t me and take a giant bite.

Eating more and more slices, my face and hands become so sticky and gross. My mother calls us inside to clean up ourselves and prepare for dinner. Dinner never really reminds me of summer, however, the smell of the night always filled me as my mother began to close the windows and blinds. Just smell of the outdoors were my own personal flavor of summer. And every night I washed it away to experience it all over again the next day.

Till never, will I not consider kool cups a summer snack to enjoy on the hot days of June, July, and August. I hope more people can have these wonderful ice snacks and share them with the people who's memories they cherish the most. In all honesty, I always felt like this snack was magic, because I never knew when they would be in the freezer. And for that, mom, I thank you for the memories, good times, and best of summers that I can now write and share with the world.