Plummy Apricots

Some people have electronic gadgets that do almost everything for them, others simply have to glide on yet another new shade of glistening lipstick, other people inhabit homes that resemble radio stations with albums lining the shelves like blades of freshly cut grass on a soccer field. Me, I'm a sucker for unique fruit. If fruit were eternal, never to rot away with age, I definitely would have a collection.

Frankly I'm not even sure where this love came from. But the first time I saw those mini watermelons lined up one on top of the other, my spine tingled. I thought to myself, "How ingenious, a personal sized melon that won't take up precious room in my already full refrigerator!" Or those flat donut peaches, when I walked by their fragrant bouquet, and touched their delicate skin, I knew that a life-long love affair was about to begin. So imagine my glee when I spotted the fabled red apricot at the market recently.

No it's not the aprium, or even the pluot, or better yet, the plumcot, all which I have become intimately familiar with in summers past. It is simply the red apricot. And let me just say, a fruit with skin this crimson, can taste as sweet. However, this fruit toyed with my senses. When I took a slice of this apricot to my lips, skin rosy yet with a flesh pale orange, my mind began to play tricks on me. Although the scent was pure apricot, flowery and fresh, I could have sworn that upon the inaugural bite, I tasted a plum. The fruit just looked so much like one. But bite number two, was a different story.

I closed my eyes, and took a second taste. Placing the fruit squarely on my tongue, the firm feel, the soft fuzz, and summery taste was of course, all apricot. What a relief, nothing had happened to my beloved stone fruit, they had simply donned a new, racy set of clothing. I guess even fruit is allowed to have a change of style from time to time.