By Max Fontaine | Soft News Backup Reporter

A familiar fixture at Bass Lake intersections most summers, local street vendor Fritz Glasgow got an unusually late launch in 2014.

Glasgow, 56, owner of Cart Full of Delectables, has pushed a cart full of delectables, with a side dish of conversation, off-and-on since 1989. But this season, he didn’t officially open for the summer until fall was three weeks old.

“Things kept coming up,” Glasgow said Monday, on his first day of business this year. “It’s like this. First, my mom fell ill — but she’s OK right now, doin’ great, thanks — then my sister got remarried, had to go to that, she lives in Boston. Then my damn mower wouldn’t start, then I injured my foot canoeing, that laid me up a good month. Then it was Wimbledon time — wish that woulda dovetailed in with the foot injury period, but you know how it goes. Then I had a class reunion, which is weird, it’s only our 38th, couldn’t that wait another two years, I asked them, but that didn’t solve anything. So I went. Then Labor Day weekend came, couldn’t work then — union law.”

He also took two weeks off in August to attend the American Vendors National Convention, held this year in Scotland.

“Injured a finger there,” he said. “That set me back a bit, too. It’s like that time I — ”

The story briefly stopped as he attended to a hungry customer, Crystal George, who said she was happy to see the cart rolling again. Glasgow was able to stop the cart before it toppled into the street.

“So glad he’s back,” said George, 33, as she bit into a hot dog and repeated the phrase. “Soglud eez bawk.”

Cart Full offers hot dogs, fries, chips, condiments, beverages and pretzels, plus Glasgow’s specialty, which he calls “The Corndog.”

“Lots of people go to fairs, order a so-called ‘corn dog,’ but that isn’t what they’re eating,” he said. “That’s not a real corn dog. Those are ‘two-word’ corn dogs. Mine is one word. And it’s ‘the’ instead of ‘a.’ Big difference.”

Glasgow is also a part-time English professor at Bass Lake University. He teaches infrequently.

Cart Full of Delectables’ summer campaign will continue for another two weeks.

“Unless it starts to snow,” Glasgow said. “Then, I’ll close up shop sooner. Want a pretzel?”

 Max Fontaine reluctantly accepted this assignment. Clara Glendale had taken a “personal day.”