Only blue will do

Since before I was capable of rational thought, I have connected the sensations of dissolving ice and the taste of flavored sugar water on my tongue with summer. It is this rite of passage that signals the beginning of other joyous behaviors belonging solely to summer like going barefoot, enjoying the camaraderie of strangers linked together by the collective suffering brought on by the moist MS heat, maniacal mosquito swatting and slapping, hummingbird watching, porch sitting, yard strolling, flower bed picking, pruning, and admiring, picture taking, and childhood revisiting. Living half my life in southeast Louisiana and the other half in north, central and south Mississippi has taught me that snowballs are not a phenomenon to take for granted. North Mississippi was a barren land where the crushed ice, deliciously sweet, unimaginably-enormous-flavor-optioned treat was concerned, and I complained about its absence quite frequently. It seems the further south you go, the more snowball stands pop up, serving summer's most appreciative participants, children. Most snowball stands are a mom and pop deal; tiny shacks colorfully painted with a gargantuan menu of flavors in front, with room inside for only one or two adults to grind the ice and force it into a white styrofoam cup, shape it to a point with a cone, douse it liberally with neon-colored, flavored sugar water, and if you'd like, condensed milk. Blue bubble gum snowballs with cream (condensed milk) are my life's most delicious and decadent treat, as well as the most coveted. As accessible as its ingredients are, snowballs are impossible to duplicate at home, forcing one to snatch up the opportunity to eat one when you come across one of those happy little stands that seem to be slowly disappearing. Its genius lies in its simplicity, its sweetness conjuring memories of warm days, waiting in line and deciding what flavor to choose, whether or not to be adventurous and pick a new flavor like cake batter or stick with what you know, blue bubblegum that tastes like nothing else on earth, just pure bliss, summertime perfection.

FYI: This picture is of me and my Aunt KK, (with whom I used to stay in the summer and help peel squash and eat the plums off her trees) in Tylertown, MS, at Little Alaska snowball stand. They have a new item on the menu this summer: frozen pickle juice! Apparently it's really popular with the kids!