This afternoon, it almost feels like summer, finally. This morning around ten or eleven a.m. I dressed in shorts and a short sleeved Hawaiian style shirt and set off to visit a friend. My choice of clothing seemed appropriate to July 3rd, although it was gray, cool and damp. The good news is the sun did come out a bit in the afternoon. It actually became warm enough inside that we turned on a fan for few minutes. It sounds as though my friend Laura (who suggested today’s words) observed that the United Kingdom is also much more cool and rainy than hot and sunny so far this summer. Having really suffered the summer heat both in my native Louisiana and in Massachusetts, where I lived for a decade or so I am so grateful that we get so relatively little hot weather here in the Northwest.
Summertime is strawberry season, and the delicious sweet Louisiana strawberries are one of the things I miss most since I moved away oh so many years ago. The berries were much smaller than the large, pretty and almost tasteless strawberries we get from, I suppose, California. Those big, bland lumps do not compare to the smaller, darker and much sweeter strawberries grown in and around Hammond, Louisiana. I remember one summer, I must have been twelve or thirteen discovering the blender and making smoothies with fresh strawberries, ice and water. I can almost taste that long ago concoction as I type this.
I’ve come to think it would have been truly absurd to have dropped my friend over whatever it was he said that upset me so much and led me to believe that he didn’t want to be my friend and hang out with me anymore. I really enjoyed just visiting and chatting with my friend for several hours today, and feel genuinely blessed to have my dear friend. Sometimes, keeping a friend is much more important than being right, or most anything else really. We sat out on his veranda and enjoyed the warm sunshine. Today, just for a bit, it did finally feel like summer.
Lay Anglicana
I think what makes friends real friends are the storms they weather. You know the best and worst of each other and still the chance to sit on the veranda and eat strawberries together is better than any alternative.
I think you’re right that weathering storms is what makes for lasting friendships.
LOL, very funny post… Is this a game or what!
To many people today must be right. There was a time when ‘Agree to disagree’ acually had meaning, and more than that, respect. G.
I hear you, Gary. I would love for it to be more common for folks to just agree to disagree and talk about less contentious subjects. (And to a large extent that is what I try to do here on this blog.)
Sounds like you had a great day. I also enjoyed a beautiful (but very hot) summer day in Philly. not as relaxing as yours but I had the day off from work so that was good.
I know a day off can be a special treat, especially if it is on an unaccustomed day of the week. Hope it’s a Happy 4th for you, Dan.
Strawberries at Wimbledon with cream off course make the tennis better
Indeed. strawberries and cream make most anything better
I developed an allergy to strawberries a few years ago… really miss them! Glad you enjoyed a nice afternoon on your friend’s verandah.
So sorry to hear about your allergy Lynn. Hope there are lots of other great fruits you can still eat. (Heads to the refrigerator for a bowl of cherries….)
Thank-you for the strawberries, allowed, even encouraged, on my diet. Thank-you also for sending me some summer vibes from the veranda – sorely needed here in what looks like a damp July to succeed a very damp May and June. And I’m glad that you have ‘kissed and made up’ with your friend. I am like you, I think, I attach so much importance to words and their nuances that sometimes
We grow some amazing strawberrys in here Kansas. You will have to try.
I wish you could send me some, Marc. I get they’d be so good macerated in a little sugar and served over white cake.
…(continued – the page leapt away from me) (words and their nuances that sometimes) I take real offence where none was intended. Unfortunately, knowing that I do that does not seem to help me stop!
/offers you the bowl of fresh local cherries I know what you mean, though it seems to me the wisest course is to try always to look for and understand the other person’s intentions. I think intention counts for a great deal.
When you have a real friend you invest part of yourself, and giving up that friend means giving up that part of yourself. You were so wise, moving past that one moment and rediscovering the importance of that relationship.
I think that’s a very apt observation, Vince– about investing a part of your real self in your friends.
Love strawberries with a bright red juicy passion so thank you for the yummy thoughts on a hot summer day here in Texas! Your advice about friends is valuable and so timely for my life so thank you for that as well. Have a beautiful July 4th!
Friends ARE summer, are they not?
To me, summer is watermelon season!
I was listening to NPR the other day while driving through the mountains of Vermont. They had a couple of guys talking about strawberries, and the mentioned the fact that most of the larger variety were bred to be sturdy, and last longer on the shelf of the stores, but lacked flavor. They said to get the best strawberry taste, to buy the local, native strawberries. Never heard this before, now it’s in your blog, and it’s the truth, buy the smaller more potent tasting berry, and be sure to share them with friends!
We grow wonderful apples and cherries here in Washington state, but I don’t recall ever seeing local strawberries. And I won’t buy those big flavorless ones.
Plant City, FL strawberries are the BEST.
strawberries and strawberry pie are summer…
Just like all of your other articles I really love this one and it is making me want some fresh strawberries right this moment:)
True… I can either choose to be right or be happy when disagreeing with someone. More often than not, I choose happy
Looks like you had a day. The summers here; well, they started in winters.