Happiness is a Bowl of Sour Cherries

Some of you have heard already of the greatest feature of my house in Dushanbe. Now you all get to see it! We have two sour cherry trees that were at the peak of ripeness when I arrived a few weeks ago. They've supplied ample fruit for cherry crisps that I've been baking in a relatively dependable electric oven that I've borrowed from the landlady. The cherries have been so juicy that I have to pit them sitting outside on our patio stripped down to my shorts. People here don't bake cherries, but cook them in sugar with their pits intact to make jam or boil them in a large quantity of water with some apples and sugar thrown in to make a refreshing drink. For me, pitting the fruit is a meditative labor of love that borders on obsessive obligation considering how hard it is to find good sour cherries stateside.