I Spy . . .

I went out to the garden yesterday to pick a few zucchinis to throw on the grill for dinner, and while I was out there I did my regular Tomato Check.

You know what I'm talking about, all you people that grow tomatoes (hi, Finn!): The obsessive monitoring of the tomatoes for any sign of orange indicating imminent ripeness. YOU know.

So I checked the Stupice, which are always the first to ripen and also were sporting some fairly large tomatoes that had been lightening up for the last few days. That's the stage before orange, in case you didn't know. Sure enough, those tomatoes were showing some orange hues, which means ripe tomatoes soon! YAY!

And then, as if the day couldn't get any better than that, I bent down to pull some weeds (ALWAYS with the weeds) and . . . what's that? On that far Stupice plant? Hidden WAAAAY under the foliage on the bottom? Is that . . . RED?

YES! It was the very first ripe tomato of the season! A sneaky, tiny premature tomato that was way too small and had therefore ripened before any of the others.

I am not too proud to tell you that I actually gasped and said, OUT LOUD, "Well, hello there, little tomato!"

Then I ran inside with The First Tomato, yelling the exciting news to A., who was upstairs with Cubby. He, dear man, exclaimed, "No way!" to the announcement of The First Tomato and actually came to the top of the stairs to view the lovely thing.

One of many, many reasons I love my husband. He not only puts up with, but actively supports, the Tomato Crazy.

Then I went to the kitchen to wash The First Tomato in the sink. While I was doing that, the MiL came home. So I went outside to show her The First Tomato before I ate it. Of course. And instead of being all, "Oh. A tomato. Neat," she was all, "Kristin! Congratulations! That's your earliest tomato ever!"

You see the wonderful people I live with. So kind to this crazy tomato lady, they are.

The MiL was correct, by the way. This IS the earliest tomato ever. It beats last year's First Tomato by 10 days, even.

It was, naturally, delicious. And, as a reward for their enthusiasm about The First Tomato and their wisdom in not even requesting a taste, I will gift The Second and Third Tomatoes to A. and the MiL.

I am nothing if not a generous soul.