#teadiaries picnic days

I drank black blackberry tea at Gazebo Gardens. I could feel my mom's nervousness, even as she took stock of plants she never wanted lined up in their rows. She pays for someone to watch her dog so she can substitute teach a few times a week. She retired just before I finished grad school, and I became an adjunct English teacher.

I don't care much that summer's ending at the same speed it will take to dry strawberries in the oven. The strawberries make steep, acidic marks in the kitchen grout and under my nails, and the seeds almost hurt me like dirt.