July 7, 2021. Western Head, Nova Scotia. Strawberries.

I appreciate being able to eat strawberries all through the year. The boxes in the grocery stores look wonderful. And you can get them everywhere I live. So I buy and eat those large berries. But then I come to Nova Scotia when the strawberries are in season and I remember how strawberries used to taste. Today in my garage was left a quart box of fresh local berries. Friend David had gone berry picking yesterday after work so he left a box for me. The berries are bright red and about as big as the end of my thumb, which means they are half the size of the berries we buy in our grocery store. I know they are both strawberries but they taste totally different. These berries are juicy and sweet. They are not a bit dry. The only problem with these local berries is that they only last a few weeks. Then we are back to eating the big but not juicy berries from the store. I feel fortunate that I arrived just at the height of the berry season. The season is a bit like the cherry blossoms in DC in that the cherries come into bloom when they are ready. The strawberries are just the same. But this year I got lucky. In addition he brought me a tupper ware full of strawberry puree to use on ice cream. As I have no ice cream, I will use some tomorrow on toast. And I will enjoy.