Juicy

I like figs.

I had no idea.

I knew I didn't like fig newtons.

I knew that much.

But then I was reading this article about figs and how magnificent they are, and how good they are for your body that I went straight to my mom and said, "Have you ever tasted a fresh fig?"

And she said, "Yes, of course."

(Of course of schmorse, who eats figs? I read they are only in season for a short time, so it's not like these things are bananas, mom. These suckers are rare!)

I said, "I'm simply dying to try one."

She says, "Oh Marie has some out in her orchard."

Me, "What?!" (Marie is our old neighbor who comes over for Sunday dinner.) "Well, let's go see if she has any on her tree!"

I was super excited about this. Mary was too. She even stopped her homework to come along. Seeing how it was dark, I grabbed my headlamp, and after something of a hullabaloo getting mom out the door, we finally crossed over onto Marie's property. Her property butts up to the creek, and she gets deer and other wildlife frequently.

Well, we were walking towards where we thought the trees were, when we hear a rustling in the dark. Something was definitely moving over there, but we couldn't see anything with the headlamp. Mom said she wouldn't go a step farther until she could see what was over there, but seeing how the only way to get the light to that area was to move closer, we were kind of at a stand still.

It was a bit scary, I must admit, but I was on a mission for figs, so I started moving my light around and making a lot more noise, and pretty soon you hear another loud rustling in the leaves (at which point I'm pretty sure mom thought a large bear or murderer was going to come straight at us) but we didn't see anything, so I decided all was well and forced the expedition along.

And lo and behold what did I find, but FIGS!

I was so excited.

I pulled one off the branch, took it home, opened it up, decided it looked like the underside of a starfish, took a bite, and decided I liked it.

Well, if you don't think about it looking like the underside of a starfish.

Mom and I went to sushi earlier that day, and as it was her first time, she said, "It tastes good if you don't think about it," and I think I had the same experience with figs.

Tasty if you don't think about it.