Oh July

It's July! And the weird weather that was so awesome to keep us cool (but sopping wet!) has turned into the summer we all know. The hot, sweltering heat one. Yeah that one. It hasn't been terrible, per se, but it's not the nice 70 degrees it was just a short time ago, with no break in the heat on the horizon. But that's okay. I love summer.

I miss being in school (not college, that's not real, they have classes over the summer!) and being able to loaf all day or when I was kid, the smell of fresh mown grass and heading to soccer practice. One of my more vivid childhood memories is just that. Playing in the backyard with my brothers after getting done with a soccer game, and waiting for the cherries to get ripe, and wishing my dad would wear a shirt to mow the lawn. And we wonder why people think he's a native american. Well, I don't my friends.

In an effort to create my own happy times as an adult, we bought a cherry tree. A baby one. Once we had it home from the nursery, everyone and their grandma told us that trying to grow cherries is best left to farmers with incredible insecticides or superman. There is no inbetween, and eventually we'll have to chop it down because the bugs, people, they will freak you out. I am not afraid. Our cherry tree will never bear fruit. At least, not if we don't ever plant the thing. It's been sitting in the backyard, for more then a month, in it's black pot, falling over in the slightest hint of a breeze. I don't think that being horizontal is good for trees. The only ones I've seen try it were all dead.

Cherry tree notwithstanding, we also have a tiny little raspberry twig. It's only one twig, but it's an investment in our future. At my parents house were had a whole corner of the yard dedicated to raspberries and the spiky bushes that grew them. Man, I love raspberries. I would pick a few raspberries, some cherries and some strawberries, squeeze out the juice into a cup, add water and then sugar. I was already practicing to make sugary, fruit-tasting juices. It was delicious. I put lots of sugar into it. And I wouldn't want my daughter to miss out on that kind of thing, and also they make raspberries without the thorns! So far the raspberry twig has produced a few tiny raspberries which I ate the millisecond they turned anything close to red. They were oh so sweet, but I think it will be a while until I can fill my palm, let alone a small bowl, where I can smash them, add water and sugar and make my own punch.

And did you know that raspberries has a P in it? You did? Oh, well aren't you smart.