Back to School
August 19, 2009, by Melissa Howden
Photo by M.A. Howden
In the waning days of summer, Melissa Howden ponders the markers of time.
I heard on the radio today that here in Northern New Mexico we always know school will be starting when the sunflowers bloom. Sure enough the sunflowers are at their peak, and the school buses just started rolling.
As a child my seasons were pretty much “school” and “summer”. I happened to be a child who liked school, but I also loved summer. Now as an adult who does not have children, thus the markers of the beginning and the end of the school year—my seasons tend to mush together which in some ways I think creates the sensation of time speeding up.
I do find myself longing for more specific touchstones in the year. Recently I visited my niece and nephew. The days of my visit coincided the last days Emily’s summer. As a result I was gifted with some summer nostalgia as we lolled about in the swimming pool eating popsicles, and picked out new tennis shoes for school (in this case we designed high tops online). Emily went back and forth to the neighbors Slip n’ Slide and sleepovers, squeezing one in for each remaining day of the summer. But even as we slept in, and went for mani-pedis, the lazy days of summer were being squeezed out with the start of soccer practice and the posting of her class lists and teacher assignments coming hand-in-hand with the promise of early mornings, car pooling and homework.
I must admit that I frequently long for the kind of life organization imposed by the seasons of school and summer. I’m kind of a free-form gal, and while that has its benefits it is also sometimes a little too random for comfort.
Living, as I now do, in a place with four distinct seasons, I have more benchmarks to rely on. Having been here almost for one full cycle of seasons, I can depend on a few things:
Winter: crisp and cold, lots of snow and the scent of piñón and cedar fires.
Spring: wildly fluctuating temperatures, lilacs and mud. The mud is guaranteed.
Summer: Heat, bugs (the bugs are guaranteed), afternoon thunderstorms, farmer’s markets, and outdoor concerts.
Fall: Changing light, warm days, cool nights, sweet corn, apples and the scent of roasting green chile in the air.
And at the turn from summer to fall, it seems I have apricots. Lots and lots of apricots!
This past weekend my new friend Ken instructed me in the art of making apricot jam. Ken is a Southerner from Alabama who travels with a fruit picker and a tarp in his car, just in case he comes across a tree or two begging to be picked. Ken makes excellent jam. To wit, Ken arrived on Sunday afternoon with his picker and tarp and we gathered apricots. Later, we toured my other fruit trees and planned what to do with all the apples (the apples have to be picked right after the first freeze, something about the sugars). In the meantime, my GF indulged us with her own seasonal marker, her famous “once a year home-made chile rellenos”.
While I don’t need new tennis shoes or notebooks, it seems I do need jam jars and a fruit picker! Today apricot jam, next weekend raspberry. And after the first freeze there will be apple pies, chutney and butter. Seemingly my free-form days are over, Mother Nature is imposing her own kind of organization. I’m hearing the all to familiar refrain of “be careful what you ask for!” Send recipes!
August 19th, 2009 at 5:58 am
Isn’t it wonderful how we can always count on life to introduce us to something new? Nice post!
August 19th, 2009 at 7:54 am
Working in San Francisco during the summer means no summer, unless you consider fog, mist and cold a description of summer. I guess that’s why people cite the quote “The coldest winter I spent was a summer in San Francisco” so often. But I do agree, without school, the seasons blend together. The markers for me are shorter vs longer days, linen vs leather.
I found a recipe I’d love you to make: Apricot Tart with Cornmeal Crust, yumm! It’s here at Epicurious.com http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Apricot-Tart-with-Cornmeal-Crust-104527
And since you’ve long been described as “Beyond Martha”, I’m sure you’ll pull it off, splendidly. I hope to be savoring it and the various jams (can you do one with agave?) when I visit this fall. The way you beautifully describe it Melissa, aside from mud and bugs, the Southwest sounds divine!
August 19th, 2009 at 8:24 am
School, schmool–I want some of that jam.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I am envying you your seasons. Today it feels fall-like in the bay area after a long hot spell, but I know that nothing will last. I can empathize about being a free spirit and yearning for structure. I usually have a work cycle that’s mellow in the summer and starts up full force in the fall, but this year that summer break didn’t really happen.
I also had a simple recipe that a friend shared with me after my apricot harvest this year. It’s called knedliky, there are recipes for it online, but hers was more simple. Mix equal amounts of flour and farmer cheese, I think queso fresco will also work. Shape the batter around the whole apricots, pits and all, then drop them in boiling water til cooked (not long at all). Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and sugar. That’s it! They were delicious.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Wow! Knedliky – sounds dangerous. My apricots are bite sized so may be perfect for this. I’ve also printed the tart recipe. Both will get my attention. For now I need to finish the jam.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
An evocative post; you set the scene so beautifully and with so many delicious sights, sounds and smells. Yum!
By the way, New Mexico doesn’t sound all that different from Vermont–except for the piñón and roasting chiles!
August 20th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Melissa-Thanks for helping me revisit childhood memories: Visiting my aunt and uncle in New Mexico and picking apricots and cotton. Watching my aunt make chile rellenos. Seeing the ristras hung from the eaves, smelling onions perfuming the fields. New Mexico-Land of Enchantment!
August 20th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Hey friends,
Thank you for all the recipes. I am trying the cornmeal tart and the knedliky on Saturday.
I have now made 3 batches of jam. The first 6 jars I fear won’t be good. The second 3 might and the third three might made with 2 and 3 cups of sugar respectively. Yes Cat I will try a batch with Agave but in keeping with Slow food I might prefer local honey. We shall see.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I LOVE this Melissa!
August 20th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
This August is the best ever for me. After 30 years teaching and 12 years in textbook publishing where August is a month of new beginnings, new challenges and hectic times, I’ve finally had an August of blueberry picking (blueberry lemon tarts, yumm!, learning to smoked salmon, long beach walks, and dahalia bouquets. It wasn’t until your post that I even gave school a thought! Ah… retirement- what joy!
August 20th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Can’t wait to hear how the tart and apricot deep-fried donuts turn out. Please report back. Yes, I’ll be happy with local honey too, locavores unite!
August 24th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Oh great– now I’m so hungry for apricot jam I may have to go purchase a crate of fruit to cook up a batch! And that will require a homemade bread to smear it on… There goes my diet and all my so-called resolve! (But what a way to go.)