Life is a bowl of cherries

She says:

Today was a family day and we enjoyed it “to the max”, as we used to say when I was a kid. At one point I looked out the kitchen window and thought, “You can’t ask for much more than this – to be happy and healthy and enjoy some quality time with loved ones”. I might be sounding a bit idyllic even for me, but let me explain…

We picked fruit today from the trees in our yard. This morning after I walked the dogs I had an apricot that was slightly warm from the morning sun. I felt a bit like I was in an advertisement - it was surreal. Then later we picked cherries – buckets of them. We pitted cherries till our palms hurt from pushing the pitter. We put cherries in the freezer. We made cherry jelly. And I baked cherry clafoutis which we took to a potluck dinner. There are still buckets of cherries in the fridge for eating! It’s like we have hit the cherry jackpot and the winnings just keep rolling in!

I don’t want to sound like I am a child of the Depression, but I have to admit that the abundance of such food on our doorstep is daunting. It is humbling to know that you have more than enough and at the same time there is an odd sense of duty in me that says I should not waste it. (Perhaps that might help explain why we turned our kitchen into an assembly line today!) I remember cherries being a rarity when I grew up - they were the most expensive fruit other than tropical varieties – and those were not something we bought unless for a special occasion. My Mom loves cherries, but she taught us that they were a treat to be savoured, not a food to gorge on (you know, “One for the bucket, one for me, one for the bucket, two for me…”) It was like a special reward today to be able to enjoy our very own bounty and to share it with others. Decadence can be a simple thing, it seems.

There was also a decadence to watching Martin and Chloae from the window, swapping stories as they filled their buckets. Father-daughter time is something else that is a rarity these days and it too should be cherished. I have many such memories to keep in my heart, and with my Dad gone I am glad for every one of them and wish there could have been more.

It seems a very fitting saying, that expression that “life is a bowl of cherries” when things are going well. The joy of being able to appreciate good things in abundance is special - it reminds us that we are fortunate, and fuels us for the days when we feel down. I am so glad we really got to live that saying today.

My Mom is still around and she still loves cherries.

I am going to be sending her a box of our cherries this weekend so she can have her fill! I hope you get to enjoy time for some cherries this weekend too.


He says:

Today I picked cherries from my own tree for the first time in my life. As a kid bing cherries (Cerises de France) were a major luxury that we did not have often, so in having my own tree it is a bit of a understatement to say that I had loads of pleasure picking the tree clean of its deep red colored fruits. Even with a colder spring start and a badly placed frost, we managed to get around 110lb of cherries this year.

My daughter Chloae is finally here for the summer - she landed at the airport at 10am and by noon I had her picking cherries.

Check out my Okanagan Smokey Cherry Barbecue Sauce if you want a new idea for how to use cherries at your house!

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