Kayaks and bicycles and dogs in the spring

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

Today the weather was perfect, people all seemed happy. There were kayaks on cars and bicycles on the streets, and lots of dogs at the farmers market, and a Domino's pizza delivery man I met tonight in the elevator told me K Street was closed for a party. 

Liz, Jody and I wandered the farmers market for a long time. Maybe it was all the pollen in the air, but I felt like I was in a dream. I was searching for the perfectly sweet strawberry — like the one I remember, the small dark red one that grew wild in the woods behind our house in Steubenville. Maybe that is a dream too. I ended up buying sweet but giant organic berries. It was the best I could expect, Liz said, considering these berries are grown commercially. (Don’t tell, but I think the berries from Burr’s and Knaus Berry Farm in Miami are better.)

Tomorrow Zing and I are driving to the fair at Calaveras County — the one with the famous frog-jumping contest. (What, you haven’t heard of leaping frogs?) Mark Twain made up a story about it — the literature says the story jump-started his literary career. More than a dozen years ago I added this story to our American Literature curriculum, in which I tried to include writing from all across the country. Little did I know that I would end up driving to Calaveras County, all excited about seeing this frog thing in person. 

Love,

k