v.May This month
Hıdrellez and the bonfire night of the plain. The 5th of May — the night Hızır and Ilyas are said to meet — when towns from Edirne to Mersin still light fires, jump them, and write small wishes on slips of paper to be tied to a rose bush.
The almond blossom is over; the cherries are coming in; the high meadows of Eastern Anatolia are still under late snow. On the Mediterranean coast, the sea is finally warm enough to swim. Asparagus and broad beans dominate the village markets. The first lamb of spring shows up on the table.
Full essay forthcoming.
vi.June Forthcoming
Almonds, cherries, and the first heat. The countdown to summer in the Çukurova plain: orchards heavy with fruit, the first long-evening meals on the terrace, the rakı-and-melon ritual that anchors the southern coast through July.
·The other ten months
Each will get its own essay through the publishing year. The plan, broadly:
- July — sunflowers in Thrace · the high meadows of Karlıova
- August — figs from Aydın · the Aegean at its hottest
- September — grape harvest in Cappadocia · the first cool nights
- October — pomegranates · the autumn migration of storks
- November — olives in the Aegean · the new oil
- December — clementines along the Mediterranean coast · the first snow on Erciyes
- January — winter on the eastern plateau · the persimmon table
- February — citrus blossom in Çukurova · almond bloom in Datça
- March — first asparagus · Nevruz fires in the southeast
- April — tulips in Istanbul · the spring fish runs