My Front Yard

Every summer, in the park across the street from the house, ice cream trucks would drive around the loop, endlessly playing their pied-pipered tunes. After many years, the city finally passed an ordinance that they could only play the song when they were in motion.

This has made the park a much quieter and less annoying place for adults - although I'm sure it has decimated the mobile ice cream business.

I really did think of this park as my front yard when I was a kid, and spent a lot of great time there. I always enjoy wandering around, looking at places where I played baseball, soccer, and frisbee. There's a giant wood pile where helpful guys with chainsaws would cut us cabers for tossing, and lots of trees we used to sit in with walkie talkies and spy on teenagers making out on the picnic tables. I launched model rockets, went to the circus, grilled with friends, watched concerts and fireworks, and napped in the sun with speakers blasting Metallica by my ears.

I love that there are so many memories in this one place, and they're pretty much all good.

We all went for a walk around the path a few times, and afterwards my brother grabbed a cone, while I decided to make a Guinness float at home, which I didn't particularly care for.