Plums

Looking at the blossoming trees reminds me of last summer...
Plums, plums, plums, all was about plums, last year. Plums and potatoes. The weather was too uncertain by this time last year to let the potatoes already created under the earth, which should not rot, and then we dig the earth wildly as if there was no tomorrow, to save the potatoes that were already chubby and ready to fill our belly. How delicious were those new potatoes ...
But mainly it was about plums. They were yellow, red, Queen Claudia, Sto. António kind, etc. We had tons of them last year.
We harvested them when matured, almost transparent when put against the late-afternoon sunshine before the expected rain fell and they could fall and rot. We didn't let this happen and then we picked them up, making wild stunts to reach the highest branches of the plum tree, where the most beautiful plums were.
Belly and jam were the biggest uses for them. The whole house smelled of plums, the kitchen was a mess, the countertop and hands were all sticky. I had to sterilize bottles while the plums boiled in sugar in very low heat. And then I had to try its consistency from time to time. Huuummm ... The smell was so good, so warm. And so was the taste. Nearly two hours in the fire, in a monotone moving of the wooden spoon from time to time, but it was comforting to be with the belly by the fire and live the expectation of what would come out of the pot to soothe the palate with barred toasts and hot milk with coffee and give friends something done by ourselves.
In this new life of mine, I restart to realize the rhythm of seasons and that each one bears its own fruit created and given in time, which gives it another taste, the taste of authentic and healthy. I restart to realize that it is a delight to remove the produce of the land and preserve it for the time to come. This means that we can depend on the land to take from it what we really need for our livelihood.
Living this at a slower but intense pace makes me feel a sense of growing detachment by supermarkets. I am not fundamentalist about this, but indeed this is a feeling that has been invading me for a long time. It is quite frustrating to get to the supermarket and bring cheaper products just because they were quickly reproduced at the expense of chemicals and not under the proper weather and sun, this way producing more and more profitable production. Yes, it irritates me a lot to be inserted in this fast growing product society when the real purpose is profit to those who produce it and not realize that when we save money on cheaper food, we will spend it on doctors and pharmacies later.
Well, it was about last summer plums, today... Many, invasive, plums everywhere in the kitchen, but it felt so good! It makes me so happy to know that the earth blesses us and we just have to be good stewards of what it gives us. I am so grateful for these unique moments. I am so grateful to realize that what we do today has consequences for tomorrow and I want that tomorrow is a little better. I just have to work and provide. The rest will happen.