Football Blues

I love summer for the bounty it brings — the tidal wave of tomatoes, okra, squashes, etc. But April 1 to September 1 is a difficult four months for me. Why? There’s no football. Sorry, folks, but baseball does as much for me as reruns of Mama's Family, and the thrill of the NCAA basketball tournament only lasts so long. Of the things that make that time tolerable, though, the summer berry crop ranks right at the top, and blueberries are my hands-down favorite.

August is the most difficult time in the stretch. Summer's blueberries are drying up and disappearing for the next nine months. Bess and I talk weekly about buying as many as we can get our hands on and freezing them, but we never manage to get from one market to the next without eating everything we’ve purchased. Smoothies, cobblers, and pies fill our lives, and it is a happy antioxidant-filled couple of months.

But now the end of the season is upon us, and blueberries are becoming scarce. Our great berry carnival is coming to an end. My advice to you: Scour the markets and enjoy what you can find. It'll be May before we are blessed again, and football only gets you part of the way there.