Door County Writes is creative writing curated by Write On, Door County and published in the Peninsula Pulse. Learn more or register for classes at writeondoorcounty.org. Submissions can be uploaded at writeondoorcounty.submittable.com.
Tomatoes on a Steamy Summer Day by Annette Langlois Grunseth Cherub-cheeked Early Girls dangle their lip-red lure cleave red bosoms around skirts of green leaves. Lanky San Mariano Romas hang out together in their red cliques, dangling their delicious fruit. A chorus line of Power Pops sways and swells on the vine in symmetrical rows. Orange SunSugars blaze their ripe passion, one taste and their sweet juice explodes. A festival of voluptuous Early Girls dances across the kitchen counter while those meaty San Marianos line up on window sills, to watch red-costumed chorus girls, torsos flicking and kicking right into gazpacho, chili, spaghetti sauce, with one becoming the perfect crown of a BLT.
Poet Annette Langlois Grunseth has been coming to Door County since she was 11 (which was a long time ago) and is a member of the Door County Poets Collective.
Cherry Pie in July 2020
by Cindy Crebbin The cool glass jar from Egg Harbor farmer’s market glistened with the faces of plump cherries in juice, pressed against the Mason jar, thickened with starch and flavored with the taste of almonds. Memories of my grandmother’s cherry pies on the farm with a coarse sugar-coated lattice crust brought a longing for that summer-sweet taste— that family connection. I imagined fluting the pie crust, ladling the 250 ruby cherries into the bottom of the glass dish, then careful cutting and placing the exquisite lattice strips on top. My pie held the promise of a perfect gift for my daughters and grandchildren on July 4th at our family picnic in the midst of the pandemic of 2020. I wonder—did Grandma Emma bake a few cherry pies with Crisco for my mother and her family during the Great Depression? I see the sweat rolling down her face as she places the pies on the window sill to cool, bubbling with hot juice under the flaky lattice crust, minus some precious sugar.
Cindy Crebbin is a lifelong Midwesterner who relishes Wisconsin’s different seasons. A former journalist, she loves creating and teaching poetry and now leads a poetry workshop in Wauwatosa.
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