Stewart: Endless Summer

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I love the hot weather here. Summer is my favorite season, and we are enjoying an extended summer. In our hometown of Tacoma, Washington, the first three days of October saw high temperatures of 61, 56, and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainy season has begun, the weather service has already issued snow advisories for the Cascade passes, and our daughter Kate is shopping for a winter coat. Over the same time period, our highs were 97, 97, and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. We dress in shorts and t-shirts. It does get a bit warm in late afternoon, so we stay indoors. Mornings and evenings are lovely, and we sit outdoors at the table on the patio. It looks like when our friends in Tacoma are snowboarding, we’ll be snowbirding.

The hot weather means that many plants that don’t do well in the Pacific Northwest thrive here. Like eggplant. We have a couple of eggplants in the backyard. (They are perennial!) I picked an eggplant last night. Cubed, floured, and fried in olive oil until crisp, it was simply delicious. Betsy and Zach didn’t like eggplant, at least before coming here. Now they consider it a delicacy.

It’s date season. We purchase strands (racemes for you botanists) of fresh dates at the local market. They are bright yellow and about the size of globe grapes (the large, seeded grapes sometimes found in stores). Frozen, they are a real treat.

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