Ice Cream Day

Yesterday was a record-breaking day for me: Ate four flavors of ice cream in three separate occasions. Two cones of Arce’s Chunky Chocolate ice cream traipsed by my lips immediately after lunch, a treat from a teammate who celebrated her first year at work. To my delight, two hours later, two other flavors, Selecta’s Coffee Crunch and Double Dutch waltzed into my afternoon, ushered by an officemate who leaped from probationary to regular employment. Magnolia's Mango ice cream on top of a crepe, meanwhile, swayed and sashayed its way into my night at Café Breton, shared with another officemate who recently turned a year lovelier.

No one can possibly be sad while eating ice cream. Or one who was initially depressed will turn less somber while the cold creamy drop of heaven melts in his mouth, forcing his cheek muscles to spread into a smile. Ice cream invokes feelings of happiness, signals a celebration, and breaks down defenses. For who can stay angry with someone who feeds him ice cream? I say, take out the scoops and let the whole planet enjoy ice cream. And have marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, nuts and world peace as toppings.

Ice cream, anyone?

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Incidentally, I'm currently reading Billy Sprague's Ice Cream as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe. Here's a quote:

Life is a journey toward eternal delight. It is a bittersweet recipe for a delicious future that first requires crushing, sacrifice and dying. At all levels, atomic to cosmic, the universe is spinning. We are being turned and blended, prepared for eternity with The Maker in whose presence is a fountain of endless pleasures.

Here, for now, we may taste the diluted hint of the paradise frost that awaits us. There, we will savor fully even as we are fully savored. And in that place, you will taste the ice cream and the ice cream will set you free.