The Ice Cream Cone
My parents came to town recently, and I had high hopes for hosting them at our church. I’ve been a pastor at my current church for 6 years, but with a dad in ministry and living in a different state, it is hard to sync up our schedules. And when my parents come to our city of Norfolk, something unusual tends to happen. Once it was COVID, this time it was a rare winter storm.
Even though our weekend plans didn’t transpire accordingly, we had a great visit. I was thankful for the calmer schedule and time to just be. We did eventually venture out, and we decided to visit the two most Norfolk places I could think of: No Frill Grill and Doumar’s. You can’t get more authentic Norfolk than that! We shared a good meal but needed a little ice cream to warm up the bones. I do believe the temperature of the ice cream was warmer than the outside air. Eating ice cream in January is far better than in July. You can ride with your window down and don’t have to worry about anything melting. You can savor it slowly.
As dad and I sat on the barstools waiting for our lavish scoops of frozen lactose, I shared that the Doumar’s were a real gift to the world. It was a Doumar descendant that created the ice cream cone. I posed the question: Can you imagine a world without the ice cream cone? Neither of us cared much for that world.
Like most inventions, the ice cream cone wasn’t created out of thin air. The ice cream cone was created out of constraint. This cornucopian creation originated when an ice cream dealer ran out of bowls at the 1904 World Fair. Abe Doumar, a paper weight salesman, was observing the ice cream dealer’s dismay when he noticed a nearby waffle stand. It was through the power of observation that Mr. Doumar envisioned a crisp waffle rolled up with a dollop of ice cream. Voila! Ice cream to share with nothing to spare! What a great reminder that significant things can happen when we slow down and take note of our surroundings!
I’m no meteorologists, but it seems as if we’ll have multiple opportunities to slow down this winter. In a world that prioritizes doing, my challenge is to remember there is power in observation. When we slow down and take in what’s happening around us, we often see things that otherwise go missed. Maybe someone will invent the next great thing on one of these snowy weekends, but the power of observation goes beyond invention. When we slow down and observe those around us, even the meditation deep within us, it can be very inciteful. Leading ourselves and those around us is in large part: awareness. Are we brave enough to get real with ourselves and those around us? There is a lot that can happen through candid observation.
If you haven’t been to Doumar’s, it’s worth a trip! If you do stop by for an original ice cream cone, remember the power of observation. The ice cream cone didn’t originate out of doing more but out of doing less. Sometimes a little snow does us the favor of slowing down, perhaps even constraining us. These are opportunities, increasingly rare, that encourage us to observe and get real. It may surprise us when constraint gives way to clarity.