Peaches

A local roadside produce stand is a fabulous find.  Fresh peaches, watermelon, tomatoes, cantaloupe and cucumbers are delicious.  I count it among the positive things about my home that such a spot rests on a nearby highway on my summer driving route.  Recently a friend and I were dishing over how mind-blowingly wonderful the peaches purchased there have been.  My pal made a statement that stuck with me.  It was something like, “In the summer I try to eat peaches every day because they are just so delicious right now.” 

Dictionary.com defines the noun peach.
1.  the subacid, juicy, drupaceous fruit of a tree Prunus persica, of the rose family.
2.  the tree itself, cultivated in temperate climates.
3.  a light pinkish yellow, as of a peach.
4.  (informal)  a person or thing that is especially attractive, liked, or enjoyed.

I think mindfully about peaches now each time I eat one or share a bowlful of freshly peeled and pared fruit with my family.  It makes me wonder what else happens so simply each day that I can savor.   What can we take in on a seemingly ordinary, routine day that is just for us at this time - so perfect right now? 

We can offer ourselves actual fruit and also perhaps consider what metaphorical peaches we can give ourselves.  The view out a window of a fully leafed tree?  The gusty breeze that always blows on the cusp of a summer evening storm?  The colors of the dry, hot, earth spreading along a dirt road, spraying orange dust behind as we drive?  The sacred silence of being alone?  A tingly-cold drink of ice water?   The just right bumps and curves of a favorite chair?  A popsicle with a joke on the stick? 

It is so easy to dwell on what we don’t have instead of the simple pleasure and enjoyment that we do possess.  We so long for fantastical things to make our life seemingly perfect that they distract us from the simple daily richness we might have already.  Too often we become victim to the media images that tell us we do NOT have enough, we need more or different stuff while simple, nearby peaches rest uncelebrated.

We likely all agree life has work and needs to fill in it.  No doubt it is correctly said that life ain’t all peaches and cream.  Maybe sometimes it is just plain peaches and that can be wonderful enough.      

Jim-dandy

fuzzy friend - a fruit - ripe fresh from picking

perfect with dabs of dirt and a small bottom bruise

perfect with thin skin and hard center pitted heart

perfect offering hues orange red and yellow brown

perfect with blush lopsided cheeks offering sweet

perfect only now in summer heat, choose to eat

perfect treat which proffers fleeting familiar yield

gently round beneath lips lightly kissing a prize