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30-Day Brain Freeze, Day 25: The paletero
Every day of this 30-day sunstroke we call June, I’ll seek relief in something sweet and cold enough to make your head hurt. Bonus: It’s said that our Arctic brethren have 100 words for snow. I’ll give you 30 to describe how hot it is.
DAY 25: THE PALETERO
(Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge)
The Popsicles: Scribblers ($2 for a pack of two). The guys on the street pushing the hand carts with the little bells? They’re ice cream men. But more specifically they’re paleteros, slingers of paletas or bomp pops or drumsticks or even these things: frozen rainbow Scribblers the shape of sidewalk chalk. I didn’t buy the Scribblers for their watermelon, cherry, orange and raspberry “flavors” or for the chance to get 30 cents worth of product for $2. I bought them because if Arturo Rodriguez can work the bat-watching crowd in the heat and keep a smile on his face, he deserves my business. And yours.
The hot word: “What kind of sad?” — The words at the bottom of the stick captured the ennui of the late afternoon. Only after the Popsicle was gone could I read the whole riddle: “What kind of bird is always sad? A bluebird.” And that’s kind of sad.
(American-Statesman photos by Mike Sutter)
View 30-Day Brain Freeze in a larger map
• Click on the links to see the rest of the 30-Day Brain Freeze: Day 1 - Amy’s. Day 2 - Jim-Jim’s. Day 3 - Sandy’s. Day 4 - Dolce Vita. Day 5 - Froyoyo. Day 6 - Casey’s. Day 7 - Teo. Day 8 - Ice Queens. Day 9 - Yogurt Planet. Day 10 - Dairy Queen. Day 11 - La Tropicana #2. Day 12 - Big Top Candy Shop. Day 13 - Mighty Fine. Day 14 - F&F Fruit Cups. Day 15 - Baskin-Robbins. Day 16 - Short N Sweet. Day 17 - Mandola’s. Day 18 - Mom & Pops. Day 19 - 7-Eleven. Day 20 - Swirll. Day 21 - Sno-Beach. Day 22 - Las Delicias. Day 23 - Coolhaus. Day 24 - Toy Joy.
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