Summer is ice cream and bicycles

This has been a summer filled with ice cream and bicycles and the kind of freedom and simplicity that’s unexpectedly craved as the days draw shorter and August comes upon us.  
 
Paying homage to an idea that originated when my kids were small and the dollars were tight, I reached out to friends in a different. Rather than the full-blown suburban barbeque, we swapped it (then and now) for the ice cream sundaes.

Despite potentially disappointed Weight Watchers counselors, our “come for dessert” evenings are usually held during the weekend when it’s less imposing or disruptive than during busy weeks. 

There’s nothing very special about our ice cream-filled nights, just two scoops, maybe a chocolate shell or crushed pineapple to accompany the sprinkles and whipped cream. And yet, it feels fresh and resilient on these warm days as we catch up with friends and neighbors who may only get an email and quick wave during a busy winter or late spring.

There’s conversation and confection — not an electronic device in sight. Weather permitting, we also end the evening with Wiffle ball and bubblegum-blowing games as the fireflies creep up in the newly accompanied darkness.

The other mainstay of this season has been my youngster and his bicycle. When he complained that he didn’t have the wherewithal to get around East Meadow, I finally met the challenge. Though I rarely have the ability to buy gifts beyond his birthday, it was time to break the routine and reason. 

We went to the mass marketer on Hempstead Turnpike and I had him pedal his potential selection through aisles 23 and 25. That was a while ago, a winter evening when I ran out of time and had to get him to religious school. But recently, I went back to the store as I envisioned his delight and independence while explaining to my neighbor that I needed to get the bike from customer service into her minivan.

To his surprise, the bicycle was there, waiting for him in all of its “out- of-the-store-shiny,” when he arrived home.

Perhaps it is just the right time to support a summer of freewheeling and gentler joys.  A scoop of vanilla or the way the air feels while riding down the block is just the way to remember the local touches of summer 2012. 

Lauren Lev is an East Meadow resident and a direct marketing/advertising executive working on Long Island. She teaches advertising and marketing communications courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology/SUNY and LIU Post. Her story on a Jewish education program impacting our local community will appear in “Thin Threads: Real Stories of Hadassah Life Changing Moments” in late spring 2012.