Cherry lovely Jam

I remember a boy I liked in high school asking me why my face was always red. "It's like a cherry!" he said. At the time I felt like asking why his face was so mean. Instead I mumbled something weak about how sunscreen could only do so much for a red head like me and running was a bad sport for the fair skinned at the altitude where we lived. But now I can't think of anything lovelier than cherry red. So I suppose if my face is going to be red in the summer, let it be red like cherries...

Just figured out today how marvelous making a batch of cherry preserves can be. Thank you to a work friend who let me raid her tree up to about 5'7" + an arms length and then to a domestic goddess of a sister-in-law who taught me all the tricks over the phone when I needed reassurance that I wasn't going to give myself and others botulism in this batch. I can't even explain how serene and gratifying it was to hear the lids snap and pop into a seal when I took them from their water bath. Looking forward to trying some things like this with the Western Slope peaches I ordered for August:)