Summer tastes like vanilla and blueberries. I can taste the sweet cherry of a hot Twizzler and the smushed banana taffy thrown from a parade float. Ice-cold Coca-cola skitters across my tongue and a lemon-flavored Jolly Rancher soothes my dry throat.
The holidays bring hamburgers cooked over charcoal. Potato salad with crunchy dill-pickle pieces. Smoky black marshmallows and melty chocolate over grahams. A pink fruit salad that tastes sweet but is otherwise unidentifiable.
After a day of swimming, leftover potatoes and ham awaited me, perfectly satisfying with a little extra salt. A camping trip often included kabobs doused in a mesquite barbecue sauce.
Once the garden tomatoes were ripe, I’d cut thick slices and make a sandwich mayo, salt, and pepper, and take a deliciously juicy bite.
Licorice is still my favorite candy.
