Lifehack logo

The Secret to Surviving a Florida Summer

The Refreshing Taste of Flavor Ice

By Isla Kaye ThistlePublished 2 years ago 4 min read
Like
The Secret to Surviving a Florida Summer
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

In Florida, it’s always hot. Shorts and tank tops can usually be word year-round, save for winter nights when the temperature drops into the low seventies or, heaven forbid, the sixties, and cold-blooded Floridians begin to shiver like naked mole rats in the artic. Summer months, however, are characterized by a special kind of heat; the kind that many people from other states cannot fathom. It is an unquenchable heat that makes beach sand burn like sparks of flames, kicked up by too-large flip-flops traipsing down the beach. A heat that makes outside benches sear the skin left uncovered by bikini bottoms or short shorts, like meat on a BBQ grill—thick red lines trailing across the backs of legs in perfect symmetry with the rungs of the bench. In the summer, Florida heat is so fierce and so strong that it can only be appeased by two things; a dip in the ocean or a taste of Fla-Vor-Ice.

They start to appear in Walmart, Publix, and even Dollar Tree as soon as the temperature begins to creep up to the nineties. They sell them in variety packs, their rainbow displays of artificial food coloring making a statement in every supermarket. Buy us. They say. Summer heat can only be combatted by sticks of ice stained with bright colors. Arm yourselves with flavored ice to beat off the threats of dehydration and heat stroke. Buy us. Buy us. Buy us. And of course, people do. The addition of rainbow ice packets in the cart of every Floridian is a tell-tale sign of Summer’s arrival.

The children love them the most. Then again, what is not to love in the eyes of children. The risks of high sugars, artificial flavoring, and food colorings are unknown to them. They only see the bright colors and taste the sweet, blissfully refreshing taste of summer. Children play outside in the heat, kicking around soccer balls in fields of wilting grasses and jumping through sprinkler attachments that kick up canal water into the air in swirling spirals. Then, they flock inside like migrating birds, tracking in dirt or mud or beach sand on their bare feet. They make a beeline straight for the kitchen where they stand on their tippy-toes to reach the freezer. The tallest child often gets the first pick of the best colors and the rest squabble over the leftovers. Taste often takes a back seat to appeal, with the electric blue pops always running out first.

As children age into preteens, their tastes shift. They feel high and mighty and believe they have outgrown flavored ice, at least the kind that comes in small individual packages. Now they want the good stuff; the ice flavored with sodas that their seldom allowed to have. They crave Icees from gas stations that they can sip from a straw. They travel in packs, cackling like hyenas in the thrill of leaving the neighborhood without their parent’s permission to go to the gas station just down the street. Their pockets jingle with the loose change they earned from their allowances, or their early jobs of walking dogs, mowing lawns, and looking after the younger children. They dart straight to the back of the gas station, where the Icee machine sits in all its glory, if it isn’t broken. Then, they shriek with joy as they pump a plethora of different flavors into one cup; their first mixed drink. It is a rainbow display of flavors and goodness, but only if they suck it down fast while riding their bikes home. These frozen drinks are not built to last against the Florida heat for long, and even the fifteen minutes it takes to ride the bikes home is enough to melt all the colors and flavors together into a brown puddle of regret that no one wants to slurp down.

And then, there are the biologists. They could write a series of articles on the link between artificial food dyes and ADHD, irritability, or depression. They raise their voices in the outcry against the overuse of plastic and spend their afternoons picking bits and pieces of trash up from the beach even when they’re off the clock. And yet, they must embrace their own hypocrisy in the summer months and purchase a pack of frozen ice pops too. They arise at the crack of dawn and drive buggies down the beach to mark sea turtle nests. They spend long hours traipsing through flooded pine flatwoods to catch and band singing sparrows during the breeding season. They stand outside in the sweltering heat, observing animals as rivers of sweat trail down their backs. They know all too well the only way they will survive the summer is to replenish their lost fluids as rapidly as possible. The warm water from their camel packs isn’t nearly as appealing as a tube of Fla-Vor-Ice. Even if it is half-melted in their poorly insulated lunchboxes, the ice retreating under the Florida sun as fast as their youth fleets away from them. Still, they suck down what they can and savor every moment of it.

Flavored ice is the secret to surviving a Florida Summer.

how to
Like

About the Creator

Isla Kaye Thistle

Aspiring Fiction Writer

Avid animal lover.

Voracious Reader.

Outdoor explorer.

Pet Mom

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.