Down the road a few miles from where I lived as a small boy
was a fruit stand. It wasn’t much of a stand really, I don’t recall any
buildings, just a few farm trucks backed in among the shade trees at a little
clearing near the junction of two highways. Even on a hot and humid summer day,
the gentle breeze coming through made it feel nice and cool. I remember the
little wooden baskets in the back of the trucks filled with peaches. And we
always got to pick out our own peach! They probably had other fruit too, I’m
not sure.
My family stopped there a lot. The peaches were
delicious—juicy, plump, and sweet—the best I’ve ever tasted. Occasionally, we
met my Grandma and Grandpa there and somehow, in my mind, peaches got
associated with my Grandma. It probably didn’t help that once when my
grandparents picked up my brother and I for an overnight visit we stopped there
on the way to their house. I remember my Grandma peeling and cutting up the
peaches for us, while my Grandpa frowned and shook his head, muttering that she
should just give us the peaches, we’d learn to eat them like everyone else in
the world had. (Hmm. Starting to see why everybody says I remind them of my
Grandpa). To this day, I think of my Grandma every time I eat a peach.
We moved from the area when I was six and while I have been
back there a few times, I’ve never gotten another peach out of one of those
baskets. In fact, the last time I was there, the place had changed—and quite
drastically. Sadly, there were no shade trees. They had been cut down. Nearby
was a convenience store. While I’m sure the store was air-conditioned, I missed
the shade trees. And there were no peaches. Well, that’s not true. The sign
outside said they sold peaches but that’s just not the same.
I still haven’t tasted a peach like the ones I got back
then. I’ve tried to find one and while some are good they just don’t compare.
Maybe it’s because my grandma didn’t peel it and cut it up.
~ ~ ~
HBB!
Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen
books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead
Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and
The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes,
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com.
Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS.
Bruce A. Borders is a proud member of Rave Reviews Book Club.
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