Snowcones and Summer Wishes

My husband and I spent part of this afternoon rowing a boat on the river. There’s a boat rental on the little island between the two halves of the city, and the channel on one side of the island is a no-wake zone: perfect for rowing around a bit. I’m just learning, and the whole going-backwards-bit is proving a little tricky. We did agree on using just hand signals to show which direction to correct – left vs right is problematic when my left is your right and “Oh no! Paddleboat behind you!”

Anyway, on the way home, we were walking through town, sweaty and sticky with sunscreen and dust, thirsty with the effort of rowing, and suddenly I was struck with a desire for a snowball… which we weren’t likely to find in downtown Potsdam, Germany.

I mean the food, not like, actual snowballs. It wasn’t hot enough today to be dreaming of snow.

You don’t know what a snowball (or snowcone) is? Growing up, I just assumed they were everywhere. As an adult, I’ve learned this isn’t true. Snowballs are a cup full of shaved ice with a flavored syrup (and if you are feeling really indulgent, toppings). Flavors are often a wide range of fruits and fruit combos, but chocolate and vanilla are usually options too. Toppings might be chocolate syrup or marshmallow. My favorite is egg custard with marshmallow. Sure, the marshmallow will probably cost you an extra $.50-.75, but trust me, it’s worth the splurge. This was also my mother’s favorite combo and what she regularly indulged in at the pool. I’ve since learned it’s a bit of a Maryland specialty, so I guess she adopted this as a transplant in addition to crab feasts.

Every summer, in addition to the snowballs offered at the swimming pool snack bar, snowball stands would pop up across town in various parking lots. Perhaps this is what sparked the desire today as we walked past plazas and across streets with their hot asphalt. I remember one was often near the Blockbusters (how’s that for nostalgia?). I expect they made a great treat for a mom with three kids – cheap, a flavor for everybody, and helped keep us kids hydrated while we ran around on hot afternoons. Even better? She realized that they could keep us busy when she discovered she could buy us a little hand-crank ice shaver to make our own at home. We picked out about half a dozen flavors of syrup and happily cranked away at the little machine on quite a few afternoons.

Like I said, I just assumed snowball stands existed everywhere each summer, until I moved down to North Carolina. My husband didn’t really know what they were – he had a concept but it didn’t sound appetizing to him when I announced my hankering for one after a summer evening doing laps at the pool. Then I realized I hadn’t actually seen any snowball stands around town. I mean, the Kroger parking lot should have been the perfect place! Space, parents with kids dragged along grocery shopping… but nope, not there. I finally located two in town – one not far from one of the community pools. And successfully converted my husband.

Anyway, I haven’t seen any snowball stands here in Germany. They have lovely ice cream, including some nice fruit sorbets, but sometimes you just want a little bit of childhood and it’s not there. I had to settle for a more adult option instead – grapefruit beer.