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| One of the best things about June -- sour cherries. Click to enlarge. |
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| I went picking sour cherries this week. They will soon be jam, muffins, pies, and cobblers... |
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| And every future mouthful will conjure that sunny June day in the orchard. |
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| Mahmet Murat Ildan once said: "Under a cherry tree, all burdens of life fly away!" I agree. |
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| "A father is the man who can change a world he will not be part of by
building the tiny human that is part of him.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough (Click to enlarge. It's New Jersey.) |
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| It happens the same way every year. I'm outside and I notice a wonderful smell. What is it? I look around and there's a linden tree covered with flowers. The air is full of their smell: bright, floral, sweet, piercing, lemony, honeyed, and delicious. It's happening on my street right now. Click to enlarge. |
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| More linden flower buds about to open. |
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| Here is the same tree in winter. And here is a haiku by Kobayashi Issa to consider while appreciating the scent of linden flowers: |
still I see them
how they were ...
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| June’s full moon is sometimes called the strawberry moon, marking the season of ripe strawberries. It is fitting that the imposing moon caught my eye as it was rising yesterday, large and pink. I'd spent the day picking and then hulling strawberries. Behold a few fat of those juicy sun-reddened strawberries fresh from the field. Click to enlarge. |
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| This guy, let's call him "Buck" for his bucket head, guards a strawberry field in South Jersey. I can picture him standing there at night under the strawberry moon. Um, spooky? The moon will technically be full this evening, June 3, but is worth looking at all weekend. |
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| As for the strawberries -- they will soon be jam. I always make sure there are a few jars of this, the first ripened fruit of the year around here, to open at Christmas. Summer in a jar. |
