summer of ice cream! oh joy!

Here I am, earlier tonight, munching on a waffle cone filled with ice cream.
That should be a fairly common sight in the summertime, n'est-ce pas?
Au contraire pour moi, mon ami!
I have not enjoyed that luxury for nine years.
NINE YEARS.
You see, it was the summer of my 50th birthday when I was diagnosed with lactose-intolerance.
That was 2008.

Sure, I tried some of the lactose-free alternatives out there.
Most only offered 'vanilla', if they had a lactose-free variety at all.
There were some frozen treats made from coconut milk - quite rich, though.
Sure, I had the option of buying lactaid to allow me to eat the dairy-rich variety...
but why would I eat something that I had to take a pill to enjoy it?
I decided to just give up the treat after several years of searching.

But something changed this year.
I found myself dreaming of having ice cream again.
Not just any ice cream, either.
I wanted to be able to walk up to a counter and order it, in a cone.
Ah, such dreams...
they drove me nearly crazy with longing.

That changed on June 28th.
It was a Wednesday at Grayson Stadium and I was there with the bfe.
We had both expected a double-header, per usual, but the Bananas only played one game.
Due to the rain-outs we'd had, the double-headers scheduled for all Wednesdays had been split into separate games on different days. Then, as they had been scheduled as games for a double-header, each game was only allowed to run for seven innings.
We were out of there and had Willie at home before nine PM.
Then, after a shopping trip for milk... we were home with Ben & Jerry's ice cream!
But wait, it gets better...
it was their non-dairy Chunkey Monkey!!!
Almost heaven, I do declare!

A few weeks later, in late July, Publix had the Ben & Jerry's ice cream on sale, buy one, get one free... and that deal included the many non-dairy flavors, too!
I bought six of them!
Yes, there are only five in the photo... one had already been consumed by the time I felt inspired and took this shot.
(smile)

Since then, I've had ice cream at home, but not out and about.
That changed during my recent trip to Florida, at the beginning of this month.
After a magical day at the Kennedy Space Center, I was ending with a movie at the local Regal. I needed to see "The Dark Tower" to complete my Sony movie foursome. That would entitle me to free downloads of all four films when they came out on video. Here was the trick though: two of the four would not be shown in Savannah. Two were, so they were done; the third I had seen during my early July trip to Florida. I had already found that the last movie I needed would be shown here in Kissimmee.
So, that was how I was ending that Thursday evening.
And what did I find?
Well, in addition to finding a penny - right place, right time! - the cinema was right there beside a Ben & Jerry's store.
Such a coincidence could not be ignored!
And guess what?
They had two non-dairy flavors on the menu.
I had the Caramel Almond Brittle, in the chocolate-dipped waffle cone, and was able to leisurely enjoy it before my movie.
Ah, what a treat!

Since then, I have found the local Ben & Jerry's store also has the non-dairy flavors!
That was just over a week ago. I had been ushering at the Lucas for two events on the same day and wanted a quick meal between them.
Lo and behold! There was a Ben & Jerry's store just two blocks down!
They had two flavors, the Caramel Almond Brittle and the PB & Cookies - mighty fine!
I've had both, of course.
In waffle cones.
Such a lovely summer this has been!

i thank You, God!