The taste of simpler times

When I think of
ice cream sundaes,
I think of Dobie Gillis
and the questionable
advice of his friend and
beatnik, Maynard.

I think of white
picket fences,
and Tom Sawyer
tricking his friends
into painting the
fence he was tasked to
paint.

A thousand images
all black and white
and yet somehow
in color in my mind,
pop into focus -
Judy Garland and 
Mickey Rooney
solving a money
problem by putting on
a musical review
in the old barn;
Cary Grant and Kate Hepburn
arguing on the golf course;
Gregory Peck and 
Audrey Hepburn in Rome
enjoying an ice cream;
Jimmy Stewart and
Donna Reed falling in
love in the Ice Cream Parlour.

The sweet creamy
and decadent treat
is not just ice cream
and toppings of hot fudge
whipped cream, and a cherry -
it is an instant trip
to memories of what was
fondly recalled as a
"simpler time",
an image of innocence
that transitions to 
reality abruptly.

And as in "real life"
rarely is anything as
good as we remembered it,
although with
an ice cream sundae...
it is pretty close.