Summer's bounty

Now that we're in the thick of it -- summer, I mean -- at the Triple H Ranch of hazy, hot and humid, it's necessary to look harder for summer's virtues. And here they are! If there were not one other thing to celebrate in these dog days, then the food, in all colors, shapes and sizes, that seems to erupt from the earth in all of its nutritious, tempting and delicious glory would be the reason for the season.



Ripe tomatoes with nary a trace of salmonella! Just-picked corn with tassels still damp! Melons as fragrant and heavy as the ones Dad got down at the Wabash River and brought by the truckload to Athens for us to sell one hot, summer week-end,

Fat, sweet blueberries! And here in orchard country, bushel baskets of just-picked, ready-to-eat peaches! Cobblers, pies, pancakes heaped with fresh fruit!

What is prettier than rainbow chard, tied in a bundle? And heaps and heaps of green beans, their ends breaking off with a satisfying "snap"! And squash in bright yellows, deep greens and creamy browns, waiting for the frying pan!

Yes, I'm singing an ode to produce, to food that has a name and a date of birth, to local farmers who still find a reason to plant and tend and harvest in that endless cycle that celebrates life, whether in a baby lamb or in a pod of okra. With most of the world starving, I know how lucky I am that today is Butler's Farm Market day. Butler's. Where I can drive right to the farm and park near the cows and see the bounty being brought in from the fields. For that, I'll suffer all the other indignities of summer,