I love apricots! After months of waiting, 10 months to be exact, they are here. All rosy fleshed, smooth, mildly fuzzy skin– as close to perfection as a fruit can come.

I was doing my food shopping at Berkeley Bowl, a dizzying array of the usual winter fruits, tough skinned citrus in varying colors, a handful of summer fruits from Chile, and there they were– calling out to me. A beacon of early summer appearing in late spring. A lone display, paltry by the Bowl’s standards, one type as opposed to the many which can be found later on in June. I quickly glanced at the poster, $2 a pound, and what I was really looking for, the origin stating these delightful little fruits were from California. Hurray, spring/summer is here!

Each year I forget when the spring and summertime fruit and vegetables actually arrive. I always recall, incorrectly, that I should be able to buy a nectarine in March, maybe early April. I rush to the market every few days, awaiting the lush cornucopias of fragrant fruit: the peaches, nectarines, apricots, and my word– the cherries. Alas, sadly I go home with yet again, more citrus fruit. But then there is the joy, the satisfaction when springtime has finally arrived. It all starts with the asparagus, the harbinger of spring, charming in its varying colors: the green, white, or even the purple. Then slowly (nature is too slow for my tastes) you get the berries, strawberries at first, then tart blackberries and sweet raspberries, and finally the superlative stone fruit.

So the apricot is here, at least in Northern California. The apricots that I purchased weren’t great, but they were good. A solid 7 on a 10 point scale. Firm to the touch, with just the slightest give to my eager thumb, slightly tart, but at the core was the sweetness of summer. And so I say, “Farewell grapefruits, so long oranges, and toodle-loo tangerines, I’ll see you next year. For now I have the delectable apricot, and soon to come the juicy peach, and the luscious nectarine.”