Early girls taste even that much sweeter at the dawn of autumn, this time when the sun’s warmth is felt for what feels like the last time and the cool nights naturally foreshadow the coming cold.
Or must we call them early women, as in the ’80s when “girl” was a dirty word. True, there is something sweetly sexy about these nubile beauties, their firm shapes aflame with flavor at the end of summer, leading inevitably to a certain lascivious salivation at first sight of their abundance in the farmers market, and further wholesome perversions at home in the kitchen where you slice them open with a sharp knife, salt them lightly and let the juice drip down your chin even before you start to make the salad. Raw pleasures such as these are irresistible and so feel vaguely illegal, dangerous, offering strange temptations to believe in benevolence, as if life could afford to lavish these kinds of gifts indiscriminately rather than spread good fortune with such selective blessings. Early girls taste even that much sweeter at the dawn of autumn, this time when the sun’s warmth is felt for what feels like the last time and the cool nights naturally foreshadow the coming cold. The quickening days can be tasted in the generous flesh of these fruits, giving themselves to our mouths as if we deserved every explosion of their finite delight. Their reds blend with my blues to make for purple prose, so sue me, at this stage of the year whoever dares to indulge themselves can plead necessity—your honor, I just can’t help spilling or speaking in over-the-top tongues while possessed by these mysterious spirits, these perfect orbs of earthy delicacy which pretend to be mere food. Babes and dudes of the jury, you know they are more than that, and that we are all but innocent as we surrender to our desires. That’s why these last days before fall, when travelers and students return to work and the down-on-their-luck are looking for a break to help them withstand the coming storms, you must be grateful for tomatoes and sing their praises and never take for granted their repeat appearance, their delicious presence, their bright sweetenings of September evenings when you and your friends sit down to share their favors.
