Going to get ice cream is one of my favorite parts of summer. You drive up to the ice cream stand, park your car, and all of a sudden, there are a hundred different choices of flavors in front of you. Which one will you try this time? Rocky road? Or maybe moose tracks? You just can’t decide. “I just need one more minute, I’m still looking.” But, you finally choose your favorite flavor every time –– even though this time, you said you were going to try something new.

Once you have your ice cream, complete with sprinkles, “Rainbow or chocolate?” “Rainbow.” You’re all set to take a seat on a bench and dig in. You watch the children running around and, if you’re lucky, someone brought their dog to come play. You bite into your cone, or take a spoonful from your bowl – whichever you prefer –– and the 80º day doesn’t seem so bad anymore because you have your ice cream.

Now, you’re halfway through and there’s still so much left –– maybe you should have ordered a kiddie instead of a medium –– but even though you’re full, you finish off the last bite anyway. You get up, walk back to the car and think about tomorrow, when you’ll probably be back again to order the same plain old flavor you chose today.

It might be 11 o’clock in the morning, or 9:30 at night, but either way, ice cream just hits the spot. That’s the thing about this summer treat: you can have it at any time of the day, and it will always taste just as good. Ice cream for breakfast? After lunch? As a midnight snack? You can’t go wrong with a nice, cold, cone of ice cream.

Now, if you’re like me, you have a favorite ice cream stand –– one that just tastes better than all the rest –– and no other ice cream will do. So, you spend five dollars on a small sugar cone when you could’ve gotten two quarts of ice cream at the grocery store, because ice cream is all about the experience. Sitting in the shade on a hot day with a bowl of strawberry ice cream next to my best friends sure beats sitting alone at home watching Netflix with a spoon stuck into your Ben and Jerry’s. But, because you’re obsessed with ice cream, you probably wouldn’t say no to either.