Could we have a blackberry winter?

Although we've had a few really warm days, we're still getting more than our share of cool, cloudy days and plenty of rain.

When Jim and I drove out west of town one day last week, the homeowner referred to our weather as "blackberry winter." He said that's what they called it where he comes from in southern Arkansas. Indeed I have heard the term in this area too, although it's not used as frequently as it once was. It acknowledges that a late cold spell almost always occurs at the time the blackberries bloom. It's surely appropriate now as the briers in the fencerow are covered in clusters of white.

Our strawberries are doing well and providing all we can use. I pick a handful almost every morning to top my bowl of cereal. The friends who shared many of these plants with me didn't know what variety they were, but they produce large, juicy berries with a pleasingly sweet taste. Local strawberries have been a hot item at the Saturday farmers' market, selling out early in the morning. In the peak year of 1951, Bald Knob growers sold $3.5 million worth of strawberries. Arkansas strawberry sales aren't what they used to be when Bald Knob became known as the Strawberry Capital of the World, but it's nice that a few growers still offer the popular treat.

I purchased a half dozen tomato plants at the farmers' market and we got them planted last week. We've also been enjoying radishes, mixed salad greens and green onions from the vendors there. We signed up for the seniors' produce coupons last week and now can trade them for the tasty fruits and vegetables. We are so fortunate to have a thriving local market.

According to the National Farmers Market Coalition, farmers' markets positively influence community health and wealth by preserving America's rural livelihoods and farmland, stimulating local economies and increasing access to fresh, nutritious food. Farmers' markets keep small farms in business and provide local jobs. Consumers shopping at farmers' markets also often shop in nearby local businesses, ensuring their money stays in the local economy. They also feel more connected to the community as a trip to the farmers' market is a social experience in which they can visit each week with neighbors and the various vendors.

A recent fender bender in which a vehicle hit my car in a parking lot prompted a trip to Springdale to visit an insurance adjuster last week. We stopped on the way home to pick up supper at an Arby's on our route and enjoyed their new brisket sandwiches and popular curly fries. We stopped by the local body shop the next morning to get on the waiting list and have the owner order parts. Now we're just awaiting a call to tell us when to bring the car in to have the damage repaired.

We've been taking a vicarious trip, courtesy of a couple of friends who are traveling out west. We received a postcard one day from their first night's stop in Nebraska. Then a couple of days later, a pair of postcards arrived, one postmarked in Montana and one in Wyoming. One pictured the fishing bridge in Yellowstone National Park and the other told of a visit to a Corvette show. We're looking forward to hearing more details when the pair returns home.

The Memorial Day weekend just past found many folks picking or purchasing flowers and placing them on the graves of departed loved ones. The Memorial Day tradition owes its origin to the relatives and friends who lavished care on the graves of soldiers who died in the Civil War. On April 25, 1866, the women of Columbia, Miss., carrying bouquets and wreaths, marched down to the town cemetery to decorate the graves of the fallen soldiers killed in that most destructive of all American wars.

One writer acknowledged that this observance will not heal the feeling of loss or ease the heartache of those who mourn lost loved ones. But it can give the survivors a renewed faith and a new sense of awareness that a life so sadly given was a gift of love and a gift of life to succeeding generations. We must remember that the living owe a debt to the dead. We should do our part to insure that the ideas for which so many died, the values they hoped to preserve, are made meaningful to each new generation of Americans.

Susan Holland is a reporter for the Westside Eagle Observer and a long-time resident of the Gravette area. She may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.