Thicket

I noticed these walking down Union Street on my way into the Madrona Farmers Market. 

Blackberry blossoms in various stages of unfurling. The flowers made me think of all the bees  who work these white blossoms, eventually producing the Blackberry honey I use for my jams. 

There are so many ways to say summer has begun. It's the first clingstone peaches at the market, the 4th of July fireworks prep down in South Lake Union, the nighttime temperatures that don't dip below 50 and keep our tomato plants singing, and the sometimes satisfied, sometimes graspy feeling of tiredness that moves up and down the body. 

Yestetday's heat almost bowled me over. I worked a day shift at the restaurant and probably drank too much ice tea and not enough water. I went home after my shift and slept until Amy called to give a 'critter report' from the garden. She spoke into the phone quiet and excited as she watched two hummingbirds next to her fight for access to her sage blossoms while in the next plot over our resident rat had just scrambled up the netting on the neighbor's raspberry bushes and ducked inside the brambles for dinner. While the rat ate raspberries, more birds gathered in the pathway to the compost bins. With their wings, they dished out the top layer of gravel to unearth a softer subsoil underneath in which they whirled and fluttered, bathing in the dirt like a flock of chickens. I had the curtains pulled for my nap, but Amy's snapshot gave me a sunset view without moving an inch. 

This morning I'm waiting on a phone call from Schuh Farms. Will they deliver my order of Tayberries and raspberries to the kitchen or do I need to meet them at Pier 91 tomorrow at 8 am? While I wait, I'm eating Coconut Cupakes that contain a layer of Strawberry Aprium Jam in the middle. In a moment I can pull my work aprons hot from the dryer. I'll pack them and my bike lights (for my midnight ride home) into my orange bag and head into the restaurant for work tonight.