Today’s piece is short and sweet, and your accompanying recipe is also short and sweet. I’m trying a new format – publishing more often, worrying less about the essay being perfect. I’m practicing letting myself play around with an idea, a form, a voice…
When I was younger, I claimed proudly that my favorite fruit was the strawberry. My mom would roll her eyes and criticize the strawberry’s watery body, its gritty seeds, and its absolute lack of substance. In all honesty, I think I clung to the strawberry so dearly because my sister also loved it and there were few things more important to me during those years than being just like my older sister. She was my best friend.
I remain on the strawberries’ side and almost as maniacally loyal to them as I was at 7, sort of the same way I am still on my sister’s side.
When it comes to most strawberries, my mom is correct, but some strawberries are so delicious, tart and juicy that they make up for all the subpar strawberries you have to eat in order to find the good ones. Strawberries are full of life and they are full of circumstance. It is one of life’s true beauties that strawberries grow and that some are even left behind by the birds for our enjoyment.
My favorite strawberries are those that have just been picked and are still warm from the sun beating down on them, almost unbelievable in their audacity. They are so bold and warm that it seems nearly impossible that they could really be. The ruby-red, heart-shaped, firm strawberries of the supermarket are a far cry from the rare gems that I’m madly in love with. I’m after those gentle red blemishes hiding under the leaves, living right on the cusp of dropping dead. I’m looking for the ones that remind me of summer’s spent in my sister’s company, water-logged, dust-flecked, sun-baked and giddy, the way only Karanyn can make a person feel.
That’s what strawberries are like, they’re defiant and absurd and exuberant. They are squishy, the way my sister laughs, blending into the world around them. They are boisterous on the tongue, flecked by seeds that give them some tooth, like Karanyn’s sense of humor. They are juicy, the way life seems alongside her. And, of course, they are red like Karanyn’s cheeks when she’s giggling like crazy.
There is this photo of my sister as a toddler. It was taken just before or maybe just after I was born, but I’ve seen it so often it’s almost as if I remember the moment itself. She is wearing a teensy, brightly-colored swimsuit. Her blonde curls are in ringlets tighter than Shirley Temple’s and she’s wearing socks with a pair of itsy-bitsy high-heels. Her mouth is opening, smiling, and you can almost hear the laughter tumbling out of her little body. The story goes that she was running around in big movie star sunglasses dancing to Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes – which is so exactly like my sister and so exactly opposite my sister.
Karanyn appreciates the little things in life. She’s dialed it back, and no longer performs Sinatra in bathing suits, but she does spend hours on end perched in a lawn chair watching for hummingbirds, camera in hand. She can time Suite Judy Blue Eyes perfectly on a drive through the Sawtooth mountains so that the summit comes into view right as the music builds (and yes, she will sing it passionately alongside you).
She lives life like a strawberry – daring it to encompass all the ridiculous beauty she finds in it, but never really stopping to find out if it managed the task. She’s constantly falling into the dust and forever bursting with laughter, cheeks red and freckled, like perfect strawberries.
Strawberries & Cream
4 oz heavy whipping cream
8 oz ripe strawberries
Slice strawberries in quarters, removing green stems and toss in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of sugar and the juice from 1 lemon.
Use a hand-mixer, the whisk attachment on a stand-mixer, or the whisk attachment on your own arm and whip the cream until it falls in soft peaks.
Spoon the cream over the strawberries and enjoy while sitting barefoot under the summer sun.
*Note: The strawberries taste better when you’re covered in dust and sweat from running around outdoors and causing trouble.