Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Fruits of the season

It's Wednesday night. A full moon and also the pagan holiday Lammas. Life has been flowing at a fast pace and today is August 1st. The pagan holiday Lammas aligns with the first harvest of Summer and having gratitude for the sun filled days and summer produce. It's also a reminder to enjoy the sun, fruits of the season, and moments of summer because it is inevitable for the wheel of the year to continue to turn. We are swiftly moving onward to the Fall season. I'm enjoying as much seasonal produce as I can. I especially love stone fruit. Stone fruit are fruits like peaches, nectarines, apricots, pluots, plums, etc. These varieties of fruit are called Stone Fruit because of the stone like seeds. My mother taught me that. I grew up with a variety of stone fruit in Clovis/Fresno. Fresno is also known as the "bread basket" of the nation for the abundance and variety of the region's produce. The Fresno area is the largest agriculturally producing region in the United States. Yet, most of the produce in the Fresno area was conventional when I grew up. Presently, there is more organic produce being grown in the Fresno area. T&D Willey Farms in Madera is one such organic farm. I remember eating vast quantities of peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries, apricots, and melons. My dad's favorite summer fruit is watermelon. It's impressive how much watermelon he can eat. In our backyard when I was growing up there were two pear-apple trees and one asian pear tree. These are Autumn fruits, yet I remember them well. My parents planted an abundance of trees, flowers, plants, and herbs in the front and back yards. My mom loved and still loves to water all of her plants. It brings her joy. When I was a child she would spray me and/or my sister with the hose, if we were in the yard and in swim-suit attire while she was watering. I enjoyed swimming, playing, and frolicking in the pool with myself, my sister, friends, and other family members. The pool is a necessity in the Central Valley or having friends/family who have a pool that one can swim in. Temperatures during the Summer months are often in the triple digits. My summers now are vastly different--in linear time, space, place, and people. I'm grateful to be living in Berkeley and to be in a more progressive area. This thought arose in my mind while I walked through my Berkeley neighborhood today. How very different my experience of the summertime is currently, than when I was a child growing up in the Clovis/Fresno area. I currently do enjoy the fruits of the season. That hasn't changed. Yet, summer's spent in the pool, watching a lot of movies, and stretching out time are from that specific time and place of childhood. It's important for one to know their roots, where one came from. To reflect and contemplate back and to re-vist those spaces and places in physical time and presence. I feel like a visit to my hometown to connect with my parents in their Clovis home and also to visit Huntington Lake with them will transpire before the Summer is over. I'm feeling the pull to go and visit them there. Gratefully, there is still a pool and my dad makes delicious margaritas.

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