My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...
Forty years ago! Now I feel old. I was a sophomore in high school and one of our science teachers knew McAuliffe, so it was a very somber day for all of us. So sad.
ReplyDeleteI know. Where did those forty years go?
DeleteI have no memory of this, I'd just turned three. But I love outer space and have read every book about the crew and Challenger that I can find. I've watched news reports and footage of the explosion. Knowing that Smith likely tried to pilot the shuttle the entire way down after the explosion is heartbreaking. They knew they were going to die and couldn't do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteIt was very sad. I was in my college dorm in 1986 in San Antonio watching it on TV with others when we saw it happen. It was awful. A sad day for all.
ReplyDeleteI remember exactly where I was. I was volunteering at Crisis Hotline in Houston. I was horrified.
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