Saving Summer for Winter

After the pizza last Friday I woke Saturday morning and noticed the date on the calendar. July 31. How could it be? Already August? Or almost so? Summer was really slipping away. My mind sprang forward only a few months to a frigid landscape and nothing fresh for miles.

After letting the tears fall for a few minutes, I dried my eyes. It wasn’t as bad as I was making it out to be. I am scheduled to receive vegetables until October 19, when it might not even be bone-chilling cold here yet.

It was just that I knew what came after that. And it wasn’t just the lack of fresh vegetables I was proactively grieving. It was the dead cold I was sure we would get after this beautiful hot summer we were having.

It was then that my Midwestern roots kicked in. I had been through this before. I would fill the freezer now in preparation for what was to come. When winter did arrive I would be able smile smugly and let it know I was ready with warm comfort food. Planning ahead was a birthright in this climate.

I began cooking up a storm to rival any blizzard winter could throw at me. When it was done I had a pan of zucchini, broccoli and pepper lasagna as well as a pan of moussaka. Add to that the beet burgers I had frozen a few weeks ago and the pesto from earlier in the week, and I was starting to feel better about the coming season.

I can just see myself now someday in the future after returning from clearing the driveway and sidewalks. The only reason anybody endures shoveling 20 inches of snow is what’s waiting inside. If you’re lucky, there’s a piping hot casserole with just a hint of summer baked inside.