Summer Eating

For breakfast this morning I had peaches and watermelon. I first enjoyed about three completely juicy peaches, then I decided I needed a piece of the leftover watermelon from yesterday afternoon's watermelon break. I know I am a pig.

Both are locally grown and were picked at the peak of flavor. The peaches are from an orchard outside of Meridian and the watermelon is one of the famous Smith County melons. Biting into the fuzzy sweetness of a perfectly ripe peach brings a flood of childhood memories. Specifically, sitting on the back porch steps with my brother and a bushel of peaches eating one after the other with the hot humid air engulfing us. - a much needed break in the summer mischief. The watermelon reminds me of my mother karate chopping the melon with an enormous knife producing screams of encouragement and delight from all the children. A grocery store peach and melon do not produce this Proustian effect.

Food is just better when it is grown naturally, picked fresh and eaten immediately. I just don't like to think about how green the fruit was to be able to endure shipping across country. I don't want to think about all the chemicals and engineering needed to produce a mass market peach. Give me unbelievable sweetness and perfect texture for only a few short weeks, then I won't need to eat another peach or watermelon until next summer.

Tonight, we will have peach and blackberry cobbler with home-made ice cream for supper. We may not have anything else, but we will definitely have peaches.

I am suddenly reminded of The Box Car Children making meals of whatever was freshly available.