These were a few of my favorite things.

From birth until I was 10 years old I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. After that I spent two years in Corbin, Kentucky... home of the Colonel Sanders. Lest you are confused he is the Legendary Colonel of the Kentucky Fried Chicken.
In the summers before our move to Corbin my father would take me out to get banana splits from the local Dairy Queen. Soft serve, vanilla only with three bright and syrupy flavor toppings- strawberry, pineapple, and chocolate. Whipped cream with one cherry, I don't remember any sprinkles... and I think I would remember sprinkles.
During these rides, little trips really, we would listen to the radio and what I remember listening to- what stands out above everything else was Cincinnati Red's Baseball commentary. Live action play by plays. Every once in a while my father would let out a "Yes!" or a "damn it!" startled me but at the same time I loved it. Watching my father be so emphatic about something, outside of Elvis, University of Kentucky Basketball (Go Cats!) and Star Wars (not necessarily in that order) meant that this was important- very important. Or so I thought. Yeah, I still do. And even though my summers are no longer filled with water skiing, banana splits and radio baseball in the front seat of a VW Bug they still inform my very idea of what summer is- or what it's not, until one or all of these things happen.