a dirge for summer
Yesterday was not the last day of the farmer's market, but since I'll be out of town the next two Saturdays, it was the last day for me. I think I nearly cried knowing it was my last day to wander through the booths, buying more produce than I probably need, eating sweet pastries, and sipping coffee. I'm not sure what it is about the farmer's market that makes me so abundantly happy, but it's end makes me equally sorrowful.
Most likely, I associate the market with summer, and it seems appropriate that today is the first day that has really felt like fall. In honor of summer's end, I made a plum tart. The plums were overripe, so their juices burst through the pastry, but it was sweet and lovely all the same. And one bonus of fall is that my un-airconditioned apartment is cool enough to allow for good pastry-making.
As I was buying my plums, the farmers told another patron that next season there would be no more peaches or plums from them. On Friday, they cut down all of their trees and are selling the land to developers. Now, instead of fruit trees, there will be a row of identical houses. And knowing that made the plums taste even sweeter.
Most likely, I associate the market with summer, and it seems appropriate that today is the first day that has really felt like fall. In honor of summer's end, I made a plum tart. The plums were overripe, so their juices burst through the pastry, but it was sweet and lovely all the same. And one bonus of fall is that my un-airconditioned apartment is cool enough to allow for good pastry-making.
As I was buying my plums, the farmers told another patron that next season there would be no more peaches or plums from them. On Friday, they cut down all of their trees and are selling the land to developers. Now, instead of fruit trees, there will be a row of identical houses. And knowing that made the plums taste even sweeter.
posted by lis at 5:15 PM
5 Comments:
I totally hear you. I still have one Saturday left, so I'm not mourning yet, but I feel that anxious pre-mourning state--it's almost over.
I made some raspberry jam in honor of the end of the berries, which is symbolically the end of the summer.
I'm thrilled that I still have two more weeks to stock up! I haven't done any canning/freezing this year, and I'm hoping to make up some lost time. (Ok, I made grape juice and plum jam this weekend, but those were more experiment than anything else.)
There's nothing better than opening a jar of summer in the middle of a snowstorm...
In a further effort to hold on to summer (there is snow on the mountains today!, the heat has been turned on) I made watermelon raspberry sorbet. It is divine, even though I am shivering as I eat it.
Hi Heidi--welcome!
I will scoff at your perfect weather whining! Sadly, having always lived in wintery climates, I don't know whether I would be doing the same.
I'll give you the wardrobe change--I do like my sweaters.
I grew up in San Diego, so I'm with you on the seasons. I didn't know what I was missing until I moved to Utah, but now that I have them I can't imagine going back. My Texas brother-in-law gloats about 85 degree weather in December, and I pity rather than envy him.
And I didn't see my first lightning bug until this summer, when I visited my sister in Illinois. I was surprised by how big and ugly they are, considering how enchanting their light show is.
Post a Comment
<< Home