Strawberries in Winter

Miles and I drove out to a family farm ten miles up the road (a piece) this afternoon to buy some sweet navel oranges and see if, by chance, they might be harvesting any other surprise goodies this time of year. We were overjoyed to find ninety-nine cent avocados grown on the property that made better guacamole than those I remember from last summer! I bought a giant bagful. There were tomatoes, strawberries, grapefruit, kumquats and honey to be had.

I heard a woman complaining in line that she was visiting from Michigan and that they hardly get fresh grown produce, and most certainly not in the winter. Cha-ching! I counted that blessing immediately. Living in the fertile San Joaquin Valley of California where I was raised means access to even more fresh food than I've been used to since I moved away 17 years ago. I'll need to keep a catalog of blessings so that when the 110 degree global warming July arrives, I'll be able to stave off the inner moanings that will scream, "WHY did I move back here!?"

We came home to unusually sunny and warm weather and ate our booty on the new back porch of the House that Dad Built. You can see that Miles loves strawberries. He missed them last summer because strawberries are apparently a scary, possible allergen that we were told to avoid until he reached a year old. He's home free now.

Missing all of my regular stops and looking forward to getting back in the swing when the dust settles here.