In the spring and early summer, the air here is perfumed by the abundant lilac. On one of my parent's visits, my mom told me about the fond memories she has of taking lilac to all of the family graves every Memorial Day. The lilac in her area was always in bloom in time to do so.
My grandma always had peas and strawberries growing next to her and Grandpa's house. Whenever we'd visit, she'd let us kids go out and pick them. The strawberries never made it into the house, and we would eat a fair share of the peas before bringing some in. Then grandma would give us a couple of bowls and we'd sit at her kitchen table and shell peas while she and mom talked.
My parents owned an acre out near my high school (which was 20 minutes from our home). That one acre was almost completely covered in wild blackberry. Every summer, we would take 5 gallon buckets out to the property and pick blackberries until our fingers were stained purple. My sister and I would have to help each other carry our bucket to the car. We would bring our haul home and mom would make the best blackberry cobblers, pies, and jams. Of course we got to eat as many fresh blackberries as we could, too.
At the house, my dad had a small garden in the back corner of the backyard. He would grow the best tomatoes and eat them like an apple. He would sit at the table with a salt shaker and take a bite, then add a little salt to the exposed flesh of the tomato, repeating the process until he'd eastern the whole thing. Our family dog (a beautiful golden retriever named Holly) was a a highly skilled tomato thief. She would wait until they were perfectly ripe before she would take them. Dad would check on the tomatoes, decide one would need just another day to fully ripen, go out the next morning, and that tomato would be gone - snatched by Holly. It makes me laugh every time I think about that sneaky dog!
