Strawberries in Wintertime

Strawberries in wintertime are something I cannot recall from my boyhood in Ohio. This changed when my family took a Christmas vacation to Ventura in Southern California in 1971. I had never before seen the ocean in person; explored tidal pools at low tide; or chased a "grunion run" under a full moon's high tide. And here is something else magical: fresh strawberries in wintertime! Driving from the farmer's market stand back to the beach house where we were staying, I ate crabapple-sized strawberries by the handful, by the big mouthful, sweet red nectar dripping down my chin. The following summer we moved from Columbus to Ventura and strawberries became a year-round fare. Still, in my mind they have always remained a special treat in wintertime. Hence the title of this collection of essays - each one, I hope, will lift your spirits, make you smile, and leave you wanting another. A note about the format of STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME: originally, I arranged the essays in groupings of similar themes as is the general method in this genre. However, editing the pieces while listening to music one evening, I was inspired to rearrange the essays like an album where an artist purposely varies the tempo and lyrical style from one song to next in an effort to create an overarching flow. So have I tried to do. To be sure, some essays of similar theme simply begged to be placed together in pairings or small clusters, as with the handful about my travels to Ireland to learn more about my distant family roots. For the most part, however, I have strived to weave together groupings of four or five dissimilar essays that still flow from one to the next, and then three or four more, over and again. The end effect, I hope, is similar to a set of pleasant waves, much like those I enjoyed as an 11-year-old boy at play in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Furthermore, these "Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter" - even the few about Loss - aim to warm your heart. Topics include: hellos and goodbyes; celebrating "lasts" as well as "firsts"; old, new and rekindled friendships; childhood and fatherhood (and motherhood, too); wedding anniversaries and graduations; the magic of a jar filled with marbles and the beauty of a messy garage; Batman from my boyhood and heroes from adulthood; and much more that will make you smile, think, laugh, and perhaps shed a few tears as well. This collection has been kindly compared to the bestseller "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."