persimmons, Fuyu persimmon

In Praise of Persimmons

[caption id="attachment_842" align="alignleft" width="300"]persimmons, Fuyu persimmon ripe Fuyu persimmons[/caption] Ah, persimmon season: my favorite time of year to be in Davis, California, and to live in my house. Nine years ago, when we left San Francisco and bought this place, I disliked almost everything about it (especially that it was not in San Francisco), and really liked only one thing: the mature Fuyu persimmon tree in the northeast corner of our otherwise unremarkable backyard. Over the years we’ve made a few changes to the house and property so that, if I don’t exactly love the place, I have at least developed some fondness for it. And the persimmon tree remains one of its abiding delights. ...

Spring Rain

[caption id="attachment_477" align="alignleft" width="300"] lime green raincoat[/caption] It’s another stormy morning in northern California. A friend calls at 8:30. Weather is the only thing we’re ever at odds about. She loves the Central Valley’s hot, dry summers. I do not. I like the rainy season, the rainier the better. “Reality check,” she says. “Do you still prefer this to a week of 100-degree weather?” “Oh, yes,” I say. I tell her about our sunroom, which has been leaking for two years. “But other than that, I love it.” “I just don’t get it,” she says, but she still loves me. That’s true friendship, right there. ...