THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9506300282
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
Despite having lived through more summers than I like to count, certain elements of the season continue to surprise me all over again year after year.
Every June, I never cease to be astonished when I look under the big leaves of a cucumber plant and there - all of a sudden, it seems - is the first cucumber, almost ready to be picked. A cucumber just about full grown and I hadn't even noticed it!
Then I'll look nearby and see some tiny eggplants and peppers - much smaller but perfectly formed. To this day, I still get a thrill from seeing the first vegetables emerge from their insubstantial blooms.
THE AIR CONDITIONER is on the blink at my house. Once I accepted the fact that it couldn't be fixed right away because a part had to be ordered, I've been surprised at all the little sensations that I've missed in the summer because of air conditioning all these years.
And despite my moaning and groaning off and on, I am finding how much I enjoy ``feeling'' summer in a way that I hadn't felt summer since I was much younger. That even includes hearing the birds twittering and the insects humming early in the morning.
There are other forgotten sensations that come only when you are truly hot, too. They include receiving a good splash from the sprinkler or getting caught in a rain shower, usually only inconveniences, but now little pleasures.
I had forgotten how wonderful it was to reach back and pull my hair in a pony tail when I was hot and feel a tiny chill on my neck. I also had forgotten that you get that same chilly sensation all over when you lie under a ceiling fan at night with the bed covers thrown back, or when a fresh little breeze suddenly sneaks through the window.
SUMMER ALSO BRINGS THE RENEWED SURPRISE OF GREAT TASTES. I had my first bite of local sweet corn last week from Holly Road Produce on Holly Road. No matter how much I look forward to it, I can't recall from year to year exactly how delicious that first bite of local corn is going to be.
I had my first sweet 100 tomatoes ripen last week, too. Those little bursts of sweetness are a new experience every year. I ate nothing but sweet corn and sweet 100 tomato salads for supper a couple of nights in a row, infusing myself with that wonderful taste of summer.
How about a Fourth of July supper of crab cakes, corn on the cob and tomatoes along with blackberry crisp made with local berries for dessert? Talk about summer sensations!
THE BORDER OF MY VEGETABLE GARDEN is all yellow and orange marigolds. Last year, I purchased two flats of marigolds to border the vegetables, but this year the plants all came from seedlings that sprung up from the year before.
Though most gardeners regard seedlings as a nuisance, I am always delightfully surprised at their appearance summer after summer. In June, I find tiny seedlings of various favorites popping up out of the middle of nowhere.
For example, anything that makes a sweet pansy hang on longer than usual is great by me, because it nearly breaks my heart to pull the pansies up as the weather gets hot and the plants get leggy. But the tiny Johnny jump-ups make me smile. No slave to the season, Johnny jump-up seedlings are blooming all over and in the oddest places right now.
My first blackberry lily, purchased last year, has already given me several of the iris-like babies that have cropped up in the oddest places also. For three years running, a verbena plant that my son sent me in a Mother's Day dish garden has been responsible for little verbenas that spring up and bloom every summer as if a reminder of the gift. In the same way, a dainty pink seashore mallow, given to me by a friend, is sending up seashore mallows all over the garden this year.
Sometimes, I transplant seedlings as in the case of the marigold border. Other times I let them stay where they are - in the middle of a bed or in the middle of the yard. To me there's no nicer surprise than coming upon a flower blooming where it's not supposed to be.
The eggplant and peppers still have marigold companions nearby and a perky Johnny jump-up is blooming in a rock drainage area under the downspout.
P.S. COLONIAL GAME DAY is from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Francis Land House. Wednesday family programs will continue through July. The programs are included in the regular admission of $2.50 for adults and $1 for students, 6 to 18.
Call 340-1732.
IF YOU SEE A HOUSE FINCH with swollen eyelids, Wildlife rehabilitator Sandy Krebs suggests that you capture it and call Wildlife Response, 543-7000. Antibiotics can often cure the ailment. The bird should be easy to capture, she said, because it can't see well. If you stop filling your feeder, the bird will die, she said, because it can't see well enough to forage for food in the wild either. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
The first cucumber of the season - full grown and ready to be picked
- always seems to hide under its own big leaves.
by CNB