time of ripening

My 22 year old son, Joseph, is home for what will most likely be his last summer in our home. His girlfriend of 5 years just graduated college and is joining Joe in NYC while he finishes his last semester at NYU this fall. Joe has gotten very into foraging wild botanicals for various culinary pursuits. Which means he as become an superb, and much welcomed, companion for me on my STILL outings. Yesterday, Joe and I spent the day visiting every sumac colony of all the roadsides within 3 miles of our house and gathering one or two fruit clusters. This composition is about ¼ of what we gathered. They are all sumac, but not all staghorn sumac. Joe is interested in sumac as a culinary spice (it is a common spice in Middle Eastern cuisine and adds a bright tanginess to dishes). I am interested in sumac for it aesthetics–it is one of the most cooperative and photogenic STILL subjects of all. For the hour it took us to gather this collection of sumac fruit clusters, we both sang the praises of our love of all things sumac–the weird branches in their velvet, the compound leaves with two-toned over-under coloring that shimmers in the wind, their edible and striking fruit clusters, and last but not least, their exuberant fall colors that always appear first. In my word, there is literally nothing to dislike about sumac. This photo is an homage to sumac and an rememberance of my last summer with my son still in the family home.

northern sumac fruit clusters

P.S. Happy July All!