Cherries ripen first in the summer. In Ukraine, they ripen in the beginning of June. Everyone watches in awe as the white flower buds begin to open. The flowers on the ends of the limbs, watch the kids run by.
The flowers slowly transform into the pale cherry. The tree limbs begin to sag down due to the weight of the cherries. The cherries are on a little green stem. A few stems are linked together at the top by a brown bark ball.
After the pale cherry, the red and yellow cherries come into place. The red cherry is the most common. It is either bright red or maroon. The yellow cherries are a dark yellow with a slight shade of pink. I think that the maroon cherries are the sweetest, so when I go to my garden, I climb the maroon cherry tree. We have one yellow cherry tree and one maroon cherry tree.
I climb the cherry trees with a basket in my left hand. Glancing around neighboring yards, I feel tall when I am up in the tree. It is extremely hot up in the trees especially because the leaves trap in the heat. Sometimes it even gets up to one hundred and fourteen degrees Fahrenheit. The sound of the wind blowing and waves crashing to the shore surrounds my ears. One after another, I pick off the cherries with my right hand and then drop them into the basket. If I remember, I wear my pink yoga pants when I climb the trees so that I won't scratch my legs. I also wear my pink Nike hat so that nothing will fall on my head, like cherries or twigs. I love to climb my cherry trees.
Sometimes my grandma even makes juice, campot, out of the cherries. Most people in Ukraine drink this since there is an abundant amount of cherries and it is easy to make. Also it is very healthy for you and it is delicious. This summer I am going to learn how to make campot. All I know right now is that you have to cook the cherries with water and sugar, in a pot and on the stove. You cook it for about half an hour and then it takes a little while to cool down. It takes a long time to make but is it very sweet, healthy, and refreshing.
It is now the middle of August. Cherries, brown and small, begin to fall off the trees quickly. My dad actually likes cherries when they are maroon with a little bit of brown showing through. But once they fall off the tree nobody eats them of course, except for my dog Cleopatra sometimes eats them. In fact she was born under a cherry tree last summer so maybe that is why she loves them so much.
Cherries are my favorite fruits and I love eating them. The only part that I don't like them is the little pits inside. But then again, if it weren't for the pits then there would not be any more cherry trees. It is hard to think how America does not have any naturally grown cherry trees. When I was five, my sister Jessica and I made a little hole in our garden and threw the pits in there. Now every summer that I go to Ukraine I always observe on how much my tree has grown. Soon my cherry tree will be big so that I can climb it. I can not wait until the summer so that I can eat cherries.
Word Count: 599 words
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ReplyDeletePaula, I think you did a great job with this topic. I love the way you show the cherry trees changing over time!
ReplyDeleteHow long do you stay in Ukraine for? How long does it take to get there? I think for next time you could organize your ideas into a better sequence, because you have really good information but the order it comes in is kind of confusing.
Paula, you write very well! This piece coheres well, and it is downright poetic at times. Example: "The flowers on the ends of the limbs watch the kids run by. " (I eliminated the comma.)
ReplyDeleteA few writing tips:
1. Your spelling and grammar are outstanding, but you need to focus on eliminating unnecessary words. For instance, you wrote "Now every summer that I go to Ukraine I always observe on how much my tree has grown." It's better if it reads: "Now every summer that I go to Ukraine, I always observe how my tree has grown." Another example, this time from two sentences:"Cherries are my favorite fruits and I love eating them. The only part that I don't like them is the little pits inside. " Try this: "Cherries are my favorite fruit and I love eating them, except for the little pits." See how much more economical that is? It conveys the same idea, but more simply and efficiently. Remember that the best way to state something is usually the simplest way. Try it with this sentence: "But once they fall off the tree nobody eats them of course, except for my dog Cleopatra sometimes eats them. "
2. Your use of imagery, which is the use of sensory language to evoke sights, smells, tastes, feelings, and sounds, is also exemplary. You did an excellent job making me feel like I was in the upper reaches of the cherry tree with you!
3. Your sentences tend to be on the short side, but we will work on a number of techniques this term to vary your sentences. The best writing combines short, medium, and long sentences effortlessly, and keeps the reader from falling into a predictable pattern of sentence length. As soon as the reader can predict what is coming, the piece gets less interesting.
Nice work! That truly was a pleasure to read.