SUMMER MEMORIES PART 2
The summer survival guide continues! Welcome to summer memories part II where I share a few of my favorite personal memories of summers past and, hopefully, you enjoy them (otherwise, I'm just some crazy dude writing a public diary about childish shit). Last year, we talked about some TMNT figures, super soakers, and Kool-aid. This year we will be looking at a certain cartoon character who was all over a dairy franchise, an annual hometown carnival and a local playground!
DENNIS THE MENACE DAIRY QUEEN TAKEOVER
Where I'm from, DQ is only open seasonally starting in March and ending in October. So, it's sort of an event around here when the news breaks that it's back in business. It is always a cardinal sign that summer is very close and also brings back one specific memory I hold onto very much.
It was a hot summer day back in probably 92 or 93; a bunch of us kids (cousins, siblings and neighborhood kids) running around the trailer court. We all settled in my living room floor to watch Alice in Wonderland on VHS and were surprised with, at the time, what seemed like a monstrous cardboard box full of DQ goodies that the adults all went in on ranging from milkshakes, Banana Splits, Dilly Bars, Buster Bars, Peanut Buster Parfaits and even a few small Blizzards. It was absolute fucking heaven.
I went straight for the cherry dipped Dilly bars but always stole a few bites of banana split or whatever else my mom would get (thanks, mom!!!). One thing that always stuck with me through my early DQ experiences is their Dennis the Menace artwork. He was plastered everywhere on cups, napkins and those papers around the bottom of ice cream cones. Just fucking everywhere and I enjoyed every moment of it.
I'm not really sure when they decided it was time to do away with Dennis being their mascot but he's for sure not anywhere in sight now days. Every time I get a taste of that fresh soft serve from DQ I can still see Dennis in his cowboy getup, I'm still sitting in my living room floor with a bunch of other rambunctious kids and Alice in Wonderland is still playing on the TV.
FIREMAN’S CARNIVAL
Another eventful festivity in my hometown that comes around once a year for a week in June, the Fireman’s Carnival. In a small area like this, the Carnival is something that brings the community together. As a kid, people you weren't normally friends with in school became friends with you at the carnival grounds.
I admit, it more than likely has a lot to do with me being older now but, this carnival was amazing when I was a kid! And plus, carnies seemed a lot less sketchy when I was a kid. Being taken for all your money by a haggard full grown adult at one shitty game seems a lot less glamorous now days.
I never was a carnival ride kind of kid and, to tell you the truth, that hasn't changed in even the slightest bit. I wont apologize for not riding something that is put up by a dude named "Bubba" in less than 2 days and comes back down just as fast after 7 days. I was the game kid... and also the "here, I'll hold all your bullshit while you ride this ride" kid.
You have your normal games like balloon pop, water gun races, and the ever so popular knife ring toss. But, what I dug most back then, they use to get this tented area set up where they'd have a mini arcade underneath with a bunch of arcade cabinets, claw games, and things of that nature. The one specific game every kid played was The House of the Dead 2. It was two players, you used a gun, you shot zombies.... allowances were drained in a few minutes playing this machine!
Unfortunately, they only did that mini arcade twice back then and it was never seen again. Now days, if I don't completely avoid it, I more or less just enjoy the food that comes with the carnival. Mainly the pizza, funnel cakes, deep fried Oreos and the lemonade.
THE PLAYGROUND
I had full intentions of taking my own photos of this childhood mammoth but, unfortunately, I couldn't think of a way to take photos of a playground without looking 100% like a pedo. So I borrowed this one here from a miss Gretchen Rokosky.
I feel like every area has at least one of these completely wooden playgrounds nearby. I didnt realize that when I was a kid but when a meme goes around and you see how many people are commenting on it with their own memories of such child death traps made for fun, you take notice.
I've had a lot of great memories at the specific one in town. But that's not where I'm going with this one. The memory that stuck with me the most was when I started realizing that I wasn't a kid anymore. Well, still a kid but not a "little" kid.
It had been a few years that I had the opportunity to visit said playground at that time. I swear, when I was 6 and 7, this place was like a wooden Death Star! It practically was it's own little world where I felt like I could get lost and never find my way back. I'll never forget being excited to see it after years of not seeing it just to find out how huge it didn't seem to me anymore. I was a teenager and the magic I use to feel was gone. Through the years, I've managed to stumble there late at night once or twice drunk with a friend and eat a few remember berries. Now days, I recently moved a few blocks away from it. On a nice day, you can hear baseballs being pelted in the distance and the subtle sounds of children playing; a little bit of that magic can be felt again.
Well, that's all the time we have for now! I hope you enjoyed my nostalgic summery brain stew! I'd like to Invite you to reconnect with your favorite summer memories to share in the comments below! Thanks for reading!
