Long lines form to the two serving windows at Blast Softserve, 206 West Rose St., Owatonna.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND THE LINES at Blast Softserve in Owatonna stretch sometimes 15 deep.
Lots of dogs waiting with their owners. Some of the canines got ice cream, too.
Families and couples and teens and dogs (yes, canines, too), all waiting for ice cream treats. No one complaining. No one seemingly in a hurry. Not even me, Ms. Impatience.
A peach pie flurry.
But after this Winter of Our Discontent—the winter that has blasted us with too much cold and too much snow—I am delighting in the 64-degree weather. No snow, although I order a peach pie flurry. Winter still on the brain, apparently.
Taking an order at the outdoor service window.
I am still dressed in warm threads, too, a flannel shirt, while some here are baring their winter white arms and legs.
So many choices…including grasshopper treats.
The mood is jovial. My husband jokes with a boy, about nine, that getting grasshoppers for a grasshopper treat may be difficult given they are out of season.
His father, quick with the wit, shoots back: “Maybe they bring them (the grasshoppers) in from South America.”
And they all laugh.
The building that houses the ice cream shop and Rose Street Pizzeria. Lots of loitering going on down the sidewalk to the right at the walk-up ice cream window order area and patio.
You can’t help but feel happy here at this hometown ice cream shop.
Lots of kids lining up for ice cream treats.
Sun and clouds. Kids and dogs. Shirt sleeves and shorts.
Kitschy signage.
Bikes parked in the bike rack. Stenciled letters. Kitschy art.
Just in case…
A bell to ring.
A blueberry sundae.
Dripping ice cream cones. A mother wiping chocolate ice cream from her son’s face. Temporary brain freeze.
Stenciled on the roof overhang above the serving windows.
Life is good on a Sunday afternoon in April in southern Minnesota.
© Copyright 2014 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
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