Summer Fruit

(cross-posted with The Aspic & Spooon)

July is a difficult time of year. The sun is hot and ever-present, the nights short and hot, even the tap water in the desert runs out warm. And there are lots of decisions to make.

Blueberries, strawberries, cherries, nectarines, peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon... I could live on bread and fruit in July. And chocolate.

I just ate a nectarine for breakfast. I grabbed the ripest one from the new batch, its tender flesh giving just so underneath my fingers' pressure on its skin. Leaning over the sink, I bit into it, and was immediately rewarded with that sweet-acid-tart juicy loveliness that is nectar-ine. I'm too enthusiastic to let the juice run down my hands and arm. No, I lick it up avidly, almost voraciously. I bite down and slurp the fruit away from the stone, leaving only the threads too fibrous to risk getting in between teeth.

Toss the stone (after sucking all the juice from it) onto the "Mother Earth" (compost) bowl, and eye another one. Another one? or maybe the cantaloupe I bought three days ago has ripened to that fragrant cold sweetness. Maybe my Cheerios and milk are crying out for sliced strawberries... equal parts fruit to cereal is best. And then a nibble of dark chocolate, a few glugs of iced coffee. Or maybe I'll make a pitcher of sweet tea with mango and lime. Later, maybe some kind of pie? is it too hot for pie crust? crumb crusts are no-bake, but hot cherry pie.... with whipped cream... very tempting.

I told you July was a difficult month.

Edited to add: a dear friend said this entry reminds her of this poem: Goblin Market, by Christina Rosetti. And I agree. What a great poem!