Featured photo (Glynn Harris): Homemade ice cream is best when made by an old hand-cranked freezer such as this one.
Here we are welcoming the arrival of one of my favorite months, the month of July. When we flip the calendar to July, it means the year is half over; we have experienced half a year already with another half to go.
Why do I find joy in this month? Much of what I remember about July has to do with my growing-up years back home in Goldonna. Not only were at the halfway point of the year, but it meant we still had another two months before it was time to head back to school.
July meant the fishing hole down on the creek was a busy spot for country boys like me. There was a spot on Molido creek that was the focal point of my interest. Just across the L and A railroad tracks a bend in the creek with a deep hole waited for boys to strip down to nothing and take the plunge for a swim.
Not only was this particular spot important for swimming, the creek was home to a variety of fish, including bass, goggle eyes and chain pickerel we knew as jack fish. Before taking the plunge, we would often cast a Hawaiian wiggler into the depths of the creek and if we were lucky, a big old goggle eye or a bass would attack the lure.
However, we were just as likely to tie into a jack fish, a long mean-looking fish with a bad set of teeth that could easily, and often times did, sever the line, taking the wiggler with him.
July could be and often was known for the heat of a Louisiana summer. Maybe that is why hitting the swimming hole felt so good, especially on a blistering hot day.
We have been blessed this year with the month so far. I don’t remember when we had as much rain as this year has brought us. It seems that every week, the weather man shows us radar of yet another event that has kept the ponds full and caused us to have to keep our lawn mower busier than normal.
This month has also featured cooler than normal temperatures which have been most welcomed when we remember how hot July usually is. Of course, we still have two-thirds of a month to go so we could still see temperatures and humidity more typical for July.
Last week, I attended a lunch with friends where one of the pleasures of July was in evidence. Someone had made a freezer of homemade ice cream which I haven’t enjoyed in years.
Sitting down to that bowl of wonderful stuff took me back to my days of growing up when we would, as my grandma usedto call it “turn a freezer of cream.”
One of my prized possessions from my growing up years sits in my office today as a reminder of those special days when homemade ice cream was made. It’s the old ice cream freezer with the handle my dad used to turn to produce ice cream.
Mama would get all the ingredients together and pour them into the freezer and it was ready to go. Our ice was delivered weekly from the ice plant in Natchitoches when Mr. Monk would bring in a block of ice and place it in our ice box. When it left the plant, it weighed 50 pounds but by the time it made it to our box, it probably weighed 35 pounds.
Chipping ice from the block to place around the canister and adding salt to aid the freezing process, the work began.
After what seemed like eternity, the ice cream was readyand I can still remember just how good that first bowl tasted.
The month of July may not be your favorite month but I still have plenty of good thoughts about this special month. This is why I like to talk about the joy of July.