I’m not really sure why this memory came to mind yesterday. Maybe it’s because we are at the height of the strawberry season here in Massachusetts. Every day we gobble up handfuls of their juicy sweetness, knowing it won’t be long before we will be faced with the choice whether to buy the strawberries trucked in from points north and then California, or to be more responsible locavores and await next summer.
The memory goes back over ten years, when my granddaughter, Julia, was two and like most two-year olds, full of questions. That particular week she was asking her parents about her other family members; aunts, uncles, cousins; their names, where they lived, what they looked like. She already knew that one her uncles lived on Cape Cod, because she loved playing with her two older girl cousins when they visited, and another uncle lived in Boston. “But where does Aunt Mimi live?” she wondered, since she had never met her.
Her dad told her that Aunt Mimi lived in Australia, which, as far as Julia knew, could have been the moon.
The next time Julia came to visit us, she recited the litany of her relatives; their names and where they lived. “Uncle Nathan lives in Boston, Olivia and Ellie live on Cape Cod, you live in Concord” and so on and then, finally, a big smile on her face, “And Aunt Mimi lives in a strawberry!”
A strawberry. Of course. That’s something she knew about. It was such a wonderful image, a perfect example of a child’s extraordinarily playful mind. I was so tickled by the thought of my daughter living in a strawberry that I had to write about it.
So now, here, is a limerick to give you a chuckle on a bright, strawberry summer day.
Aunt Mimi lives in a strawberry.
it’s cozy and warm in there.
She sleeps on a bed of strawberry cream
and sits on a shortcake chair.
Whenever she gets very hungry
she takes a big bite from her wall,
Then strawberry juice runs down her chin,
but she doesn’t mind red stains at all.
Aunt Mimi lives in a strawberry.
She’s happy there, oh, so very.
But sometimes at night
she thinks that she might
move into a nice blueberry!
I love the image and the poem.
So very sweet, warmed my heart!
love, Candy
Hope you are mending well from surgery and that you are continuing to seed your grandchildren with knowledge that returns to you more delight through such musings. Love my local strawberries!
This is delightful! You are so creative, Polly.
Loved this Polly! It reminded me of my daughter at about the age of 2 or 3. When people asked her where she lived she always said, “The West Concord Super Market”! (Miss that place !)
Dear Polly, thanks for the smile and the lovely poem, and for your prayers next Tuesday. I have a lovely photo of my great granddaughter, Lida, naked, in her empty plastic pool, doing The Plank! Look forward to doing the plank with you in the fall. Love, Nancy (though not naked!)
Children’s rewordings can be so creative. A friend’s child knew the vehicle that airlifted someone to a hospital was called a “helpicopter.”
Polly, what a delightfully creative and fun limerick
About this delicious berry! I love how the imagination
Can transport us to happy places. Thank you!
Made my day Polly, kids are so naturally creative, well, some adults like you are too! Thanks, I love your writings and the visuals, I love thinking of Concord and our wonderful years there.
Beverly
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