Lemon Lime

When we were in Wildwood last weekend, a beach town on the Jersey Shore unique for it's doo wop aesthetic, one thing I noticed on the boardwalk were buttons and signs that said "It's a crime without the lime." It caught my attention but I was too overwhelmed to consider what it meant, or maybe scared to find out. The sun was hot, and I didn't feel like asking questions.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I think the slogan has something to do with the fact that Wildwood claims to be the home of the Lime Rickey. It's also home to many plastic and fiberglass palm trees, scientifically known as Palmis Platicarum Whitmana, to Jetson's inspired lodging, and probably the only motel in American called The Pink Champagne.

Back in Brooklyn Monday, my son had the idea to sell lemonade, although it would be kind of cool to see kids setting up a stand on the sidewalk to sell dixie cups full of champagne. Or maybe to offer body piercings. Key Food was offering lemons for $.99 (why?) but you could get limes 5 for a dollar so limeade it was. Even though the kids had already made signs advertising lemonade that they were too lazy to change. My daughter and her friend refused to sell together with my son so there had to be two stands in front of the house, my son's selling one large cup for a dollar, my daughter's selling a small one for $.50.

They sat there screaming "lemonade, lemonade," even though it was limeade, even though our neighbors were starting to hate us, even when there was no one on the street to hear them. A man in a blue and red striped shirt came along and I watched secretly from inside the house as he grappled with how to deal with the tables of screaming children all wanting to sell him their "lemonade." He caved to my son, because he was younger I think, and so sweetly said, "How about I pay you a dollar and you get to drink the lemonade? ...I just ate." My heart sank as my son said OK and took the money without thanking this exquisitely kind person. But I think some people are kind to the core and this man couldn't even muster the venom required to judge this oblivious kid.

After that my daughter and her friend figured out that it wasn't working so well to have the two stands side by side so they decided to move theirs down the block. That was some business acumen that payed off, and soon my son was discouraged because they were getting all the customers. A kind mom stopped and bought some "lemonade" from him though, dumping out whatever was in her toddler's sippy cup and filling it with (hand reamed) home made limeade "lemonade." Two friendly groovy young people actually bought limeade at both stands. In the end, my son made 6 bucks and the girls 16, the small cup size really payed off for them. They also made a little more by playing songs for people on the guitar for 50 cents. I encouraged my son to sell jokes but he didn't go for the idea, perhaps because he was a little tired from the sun and the boardwalk the day before, like I was.

I felt a little more energetic today, and a good thing, because it was a big photo shoot day at my job. I had two excellent helpers, Dave and a man named Lime. We all agreed that iced tea is very good, but Dave likes to put cinnamon in his. And Lime prefers lemonade, which his wife makes fresh for him, every day.