Dick's Hideaway:

Dick MacKenzie - www.dickshideaway.com

Simple pleasures

The camp nasturiums have sprung beautiful blossoms this week and are dancing in the afternoon breeze as if no one is watching. I’m surprised the tiny stems hold them in their delicate waltz.

The brilliant colors certainly light up a smoky moment.

And today’s harvest of this year’s first zucchinis makes my heart thump. They’re not very big but fried in butter will be a happy addition to barbequed coconut crusted chicken breasts for supper.

In times past I waited until those green squashes grew to the size of footballs. Got a few each summer, but never many.

Last summer I was eager to cook zucchini loaf, so picked all that were growing, though I felt bad to be robbing the cradle.

Those little guys made an outstanding cake, with lots left to eat on the side.

Most astounding to me, though, is that my zucchini plants exploded with dozens and dozens of new fruits. They sprouted so fast and plentiful that we never caught up for the rest of the summer. Every week we took home a box of them to give away to neighbors and friends, and sometimes even to total strangers.

Will it happen again this year? We’ll see. I hope so. For a simple guy, happy with small pleasures, an armload of fresh zucchinis, grown in the shade of his flowers, to share with friends, is an exquisite experience.