Melting in the Sun

Melting in the Sun

“Strawberries coated in chocolate melt fast in the sun.”  This is a great truth passed down from mother to daughter.  Strawberries with chocolate swirled around them are so beautiful, tempting in the clear plastic box in the cool air conditioned air of the supermarket.  But get them in the car after walking over heated pavement in the parking lot, let them sit on your lap in the hot sun which is beaming through the clear window of the car while you take a picture of their succulent beauty. Well, thankfully, I had lots of napkins on this past Mothers’ Day, a patient husband watching me scarfing down one, two, three, and four chocolate covered berries trying not to coat my fingers, drip on my clothes, car, etc.  Watching, trying not to laugh as chocolate oozed and clumped off of sun heated berries. Not a moment to linger.

Somehow, I think that they were better suited to a leisurely moment in the shade beneath tall trees by a gurgling brook or rushing creek.  A soft moving zephyr rustling my hair while violins play nearby. An old fashioned picnic with a comfortable blanket to rest on, fragrant, pungent cheeses with slices of breads to linger over and chilled water, wines to sip.  A much better picture than me, sweating slightly, eating the damn strawberries with their melting chocolate in a quickly heating car.

As things go, obviously I was swayed by beauty and not content.  So often is the case in our fast paced world.  We go for the quick, instant gratification without much thought to what might be happening around us.  In my case, I was at a grocery store on a very warm day.   We had stopped on our way home from vacation to stretch our legs, get a restroom break and pick up more tea to drink on the next leg of our journey towards home. I was slightly chilled, cool from walking in the store when I saw the strawberries, chocolate, and very convenient Mothers’ Day sign.  I was hooked.  After all, I was a mother, it was my day, and I was on vacation.  The man dutifully grabbed my tea, said go for it and left me to fulfill my desires.

 

Life is filled with after thoughts, after deeds?  An after deed is what I think that I should have done after the before deed happened.  I should have left the strawberries, been content with my tea, smelt the flowers on the way out to the car.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, the strawberries were good, very good for warm, melting chocolate puddles of goo.  But the chilled ones are so much better.