Taste of Childhood

What do you remember about growing up? What does your childhood taste like? If you could go back, where would you find yourself? If I went back, I would find myself on Rainbow Forrest Dr, in the cul-de-sac with my brother, most definitely, and my childhood friends, Kyle and Cameron Barton.

I guess my childhood would have the taste of an ice cream, but only when we crossed our fingers and prayed really hard. The ice cream truck was a special treat and did not come often because we lived far back in the neighborhood. Daddy would give me and my brother a dollar and we would race up the hill as fast as we could. We were greeted by Kyle and Cameron. Our bellies were happily filled with Flintstones push up pops, vanilla snoopy's and power rangers popsicles.

My neighborhood tasted of block parties with hot dogs and hamburgers, homemade brownies, and  the smell of sweet watermelons in the summertime. White shirts were soaked with pink stains and mouths spit black seeds as far as they could. My dad told me when I was younger that if I swallowed a black watermelon seed, I would grow a watermelon inside my belly. What an awful thing to tell an 8 year old! So, my brother and I carefully, spit out only the black seeds and ate the white ones. Watermelon juice pooled in circles on the back porch, but it was ok, because our dog charlie licked it up. I learned at an early age that my dad was in the living room watching tv when the house smelled of home grown N.C. peanuts, or popcorn. With these snacks, pepsi always accompanied him to the living room. Sausage biscuits or sizzling bacon filled the house early in the morning. Biscuits were served with mustard smiles, ready for the sausage to smush its face in.

My childhood tasted of sweet tea...and lots of it. That's right, keep it coming. My childhood tasted of pimento cheese sandwiches, cut in triangles, shared in the middle of the Chowan river. We ate lots of salt and vinegar chips out there on that water. (Thanks Aunt Denise.) Homemade ice cream was a must. We ate loads of fried white perch and cat fish caught fresh. My childhood was filled with ice cream from the Tastee Freeze up the road. When I was a kid, there was nothing better than double bubble, bubble gum out of the goodie bags my Grandad packed for me. I'd keep poppin' them in my mouth because the flavor went away so quick. By the end of the day, I'd have a wad bigger than a ping pong ball packed in the side of my cheek like tobacco. And I thought I was cool, just like my Granddad, when I did this. I remember long car rides, filled with jelly belly jelly bean roulette. Jonathan and I would try all sorts of different jelly belly jelly beans. Buttered popcorn, coconut, and peanut butter and jelly were the worst flavors, ever. We hated eating those and tried to pawn them off to our Mom. She was far too smart for this game. We loved sour green apple, watermelon and marshmellow.



Similar to how songs bring you back to certain times and places, foods do that too. I can't eat watermelon without thinking of my brother and I freaking out over the watermelons growing inside of us. I don't ever make a sausage biscuit without a mustard smiley face. And while I do not think having a wad of bubble gum in the side of my cheek is attractive, I still think about those goodie bags filled with bubble gum.Everyone looks back on their childhood, and remembers what they see and hear. But often forget one of the most important senses...Taste! Don't forget the tastes of your childhood. Remember them. Cherish them, while you can.