news-record.com

Pop quiz: Explain the trivia game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Was your answer something on the order of  “There is a link to every one of Kevin Bacon’s movies up to six degrees or steps?”

Now explain how that works. OK, if the director of “Footloose” was the producer of “A Few Good Men,” you would have a link. And so on.

Alas, this is not about movies or Kevin Bacon. It’s about how one thing leads to another when making jam or preserves. An act of thoughtfulness leads to another act of kindness, and it is all held together with sticky, sweet, gooey, boiled fruit, and enough sugar to keep your blood sugar riding high.

Marianne Aiken has five varieties of fig trees in her yard Years ago, I told her I liked figs.  Marianne told me that in making preserves, she let the fruit and sugar boil vigorously without a top on the thick-bottomed pan.

Each year she remembers our fig connection and sends her husband, Warwick, over with the bounty, or I pick up the gathered figs she has left on her porch for me.

Warwick and Marianne know Bob Futrell, a retired teacher at RCC, who has one of the largest vegetable and fruit gardens in Eden.

Bob has one enormous fig tree in the back center of his garden. The figs are as large as a silver dollar or as small as a quarter, all bunched together in a clump.

Bob and I talk figs at church and every year he gives me figs in return for some jam. This year I went to his yard to pick the green goddesses myself.

Jane and Mike Haines sometimes join Bob and I talking about figs at church. Jane is not familiar with fig preserves, but she and Mike have a pear-laden tree on their property.

Jane and Mike invite me and Nancy Strong to their house to gather sickle pears.

That day is blistering hot, and we watch Mike take an antique fruit-gathering device that was used on his family property when he was growing up.

The long pole has what looks like fingers of iron on the end. Mike gathers four or five pears at one time and drops them in our paper bags and wooden baskets.

I leave a jar of my fig preserves made from Bob’s figs  with Jane and Mike.

Soon after the trip to the Haines’ house, Joyce Spear calls to say she has lots of pears that need harvesting soon.

Her pears are Bartlett pears, the softer type found in grocery stores and produce markets. Joyce and I talk about how sickle pears make better preserves and Bartlett pears are better for eating.

Joyce understands that I have too many pears and offers to bring over a sack of Bartletts for snacking.

Joyce will receive a jar of pear preserves as soon as I make it.

Bob Futrell says it is no harm done if fruit stays in the refrigerator for several days, so  I have a large bowl of sliced pears with twice as much sugar as pears waiting for me in the fridge.

Twelve jars of fig and Damson preserves sit on the counter. I give eight jars to friends and family.

My former much-missed neighbor. Amanda Currin, and I talk preserves long distance. She is making Damson preserves.

Damsons, in case you don’t come from the South, are a member of the plum family. The fruit ranges from small dark purple balls to large smooth-skinned prune size. Damsons have a large seed inside that I remove before cooking. Damson preserves have a unique taste, bitter and sweet. It’s either love it or “I haven’t acquired a taste for it.”

Rachel Wright is a native of Eden and a retired teacher at Morehead High School. She was a longtime instructor at RCC.