In the midst of winter, a little glimpse of summertime appeared ...

I woke up this morning to a snowstorm that must have begun last night, because there are several inches already on the ground. It's pretty, but at my age, I've grown weary of the cold and snow. Southern climates are starting to appeal to me more each year.

Anyway, as I was having my coffee, I thought about a hot summer day years ago...

It had been a long, hot, sticky summer. I was driving home from Walmart one morning and already it was promising to be another sweltering day. A few blocks from home, I saw a small homemade lemonade stand that was set up in the grass along the sidewalk. It reminded me of how we used to make bookcases, back in the late 60's, to hold a stereo system. It consisted of two cinder blocks piled one on top of the other at each end, with a wide board laying across the top.

A large hand printed sign was taped to the front of the board and hanging down. It was perfect for the little stand, printed in crooked capital letters with crayon -- even the 'N's" and "E's" in the word LEMONADE were printed backwards, which added to the mystique.

The whole thing was so adorable, I just couldn't resist. I parked my car and bought a glass for fifteen cents and told them they could keep the change from my quarter.

Jacob, (8), and Sissy, (6), took their business very seriously. With loving teamwork, Sissy held the plastic cup, while Jacob poured in the lemonade from the pitcher.

Playing my part as a satisfied customer, I drank ALL of my lemonade -- even though there wasn't NEARLY enough sugar in it.

I couldn't stop thinking about the little lemonade stand and its young entrepreneurs. There was a poem in there, somewhere, and I eventually gave my imagination free reign. Here it is, and there's a special little twist at the end.


The Lemonade Stand
(from the book, "Barking Spiders 2")
by CJ Heck

Get your ice cold glass of lemonade!
Hurry, 'fore it's gone.
We made it just this morning.
See the table that it's on?

We promise that you'll like it
and there's sugar in it, too --
not like it was the other day
when mom and dad said "Ewwwww."

Get your ice cold glass of lemonade!
Boy, grownups sure are funny --
they smile a lot at little kids
who are trying to make money.

Thank you, ma'am, and thank you, sir,
you've helped us out a bunch.
Sissy, let's go make some more.
It's almost time for lunch.

Get your ice cold glass of lemonade!
Only fifteen cents a glass!
We've got to make more money
and we've got to make it fast.

Daddy said it wouldn't work,
that people wouldn't stop.
They'd hurry right on past us
and then they'd laugh a lot.

One last glass of lemonade!
This was so much fun!
Let's get this table put away
and then we've got to run.

Sissy look ... it's snowing!
But that will be all right.
Now we have money for presents
and Santa Claus comes tonight.


Oh, and even thinking about that summer day, my cheeks still ache from the
lemon-sour pucker.