When life gives you lemons

Another summer has come and gone in North Idaho, and I hope it served you well.

The weather cooperated, for the most part, and it was perfect for junior entrepreneurs.

Yep, one of the best things I like about panhandle summers is the continuance of an American institution.

I'm talking about lemonade stands.

These days, I spend more time riding my bike through neighborhoods than I do behind the wheel of a car. The nice part about that is I can hear and see the activity within.

One constant plea during the summer: "Lemonade, lemonade, come buy some, please!"

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I often turn to see two or three kids enjoying summer vacation, trying to earn a few bucks just like yours truly back in the day.

I was inspired by lemons, sugar and water as a young tot attending the Montana State Fair in Great Falls.

One of the commerce buildings had a huge lemonade stand, and they did a marvelous job of mixing the three ingredients into a wonderful concoction for a hot, tiring day at the fair.

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When I got a little older, I would go to the store, buy a bag of lemons, snag the big canister of sugar off the top shelf at home and go to work perfecting the brew.

One thing I realized right away is that you can't make up for lousy lemons. If the fruit was not flavorful, you were sunk.

Also, you needed crushed ice. For some reason, lemonade just tastes better without a few monster ice cubes banging incessantly against your upper lip as you tried to gulp it down.

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Over the years I got to be pretty good at getting the sweet-and-sour ratio right, so much so that neighborhood kids often asked me to do the honors and mix up their ingredients to sell at the impromptu stand out on the street.

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These days, when I see a stand, I always look at the price. I remember selling a decent sized glass for 15 or 25 cents. Nowadays, I rarely see a price less than a dollar.

I did see one stand this year selling for 50 cents. Alas, the cups were pretty small.

No doubt looking for repeat customers.

Others were shooting for the moon. I saw many asking $1.50 per glass, and one was a ghastly $5 per serving.

Maybe they were hoping for one or two customers, then they could close up for the day and go jump in the lake.

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Another difference is the use of artificial sweeteners. In my day, sugar was your only option. Nowadays, kids can go with a variety of products, and even take a packet of lemonade and mix it with water to make a passable batch. Sorry, kids you gotta go with the heritage.

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All in all, it does my heart good to see youngsters still bringing home the bacon by way of a little lemon, sugar and water.

Hmmm ... bacon-flavored lemonade ... am I onto something?

Jerry Hitchcock is a copy editor for The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at jhitchcock@cdapress.com.