Episode #804
June 29, 2024
My house came with a cherry tree.
It was 12’ tall with full 4’ wide dormant branches.
There was a promise of fruit in the bud covered branches.
In March the buds became leaves and in early April the cherry tree bloomed.
“Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,
Across the spring sky,
As far as the eye can see.
Is it mist, or clouds?
Fragrant in the air.
Come now, come now,
Let’s go and see them!”
—Sakura (Japanese folk song)
Japan is well known for the radiant, delicate and transient beauty of their country wide cherry blossom bloom. The blossom’s pastel pink pedals, burgundy center and delicate pollen tipped reaching white anthers are punctuated with a fertile yellow stamen. A cherry grove canopy is purest pink paradise.
When my cherry tree bloomed I understood this Japanese enchantment. While not the pure pink pastel of Japanese cherry blossoms, the flowers were white as snow with just a hint of pink.
No sooner had the blossoms fell that the cherry fruit sets appeared. They swelled quickly into yellow cherries.
I thought that my tree might be a yellow cherry tree. The fruit was hard and inedible, so I waited impatiently. In a few weeks the yellow began to turn red.
YES! Cherry pie, cherry compote, cherries jubilee or just succulent snacking. I continued to sample the cherries hoping for ripened candy.
One day I bit into a cherry and it squirted sweetness onto my tongue. This was one of the darkest red cherries. I decided to give the rest a little more time and harvest in a few of days.
The next morning I woke and thought to put a few cherries on my pancakes. I walked out to the yard. My jaw hit the ground. All the cherries were gone. There were none on the ground. There were none in the tree.
A flock of birds would have left half eaten cherries on the ground. No other animal in my area had the means or desire to take all these cherries. I live pretty remotely so I did not suspect human thieves.
Just then, four squirrels appeared at the edge of the clearing.
They all stood with their little front paws on the chests. One bobbed up and down eyeing my cherry tree. They were so cute and I hated them. I stamped a foot at them. They stared back for a moment, then scurried into the brush.
The next year, after another radiant bloom I put a bird net over the tree and tied it around the trunk. The cherries filled the tree. I waited until some were so ripe they fell off into the netting. Then I harvested. I filled a 13 quart bowl with soft juicy ambrosia.
As I took the bowl into the house I saw some rustling in the brush out of the corner of my eye.
“Enjoy gleaning the overripe cherries I left on the ground,” I thought with best wishes to my squirrels.
Paula and I ate the whole bowl in one sitting. We could not stop.
Postscript:
This year my friend Joe gave us two cherry trees. We have planted them and they are already blooming. This year or next we hope to have three times the goodness.
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YUM