The Taste of Home and Beyond

From Ellensburg’s quiet streets,

Across-the-Street Batch hums softly;

a neighbor’s gift, a whisper of home.

Pumpkin and apple blossoms mingle,

seasonal songs from Jensen’s Farms,

while Star Thistle from Pasco

dances smooth on my tongue.

Trailhead Wildflower climbs mountain meadows,

wild and free,

and Raspberry Blossom from Graham

sings a soft, fruity lullaby.

Blackberry Blossom thickens the Pacific Northwest air,

a classic, bold and familiar,

like the highways where it was born.

I travel farther with Tupelo’s buttery gold,

southern Georgia’s liquid sunshine,

and Montana’s Winter White,

creamy as a whispered secret.

Poison Oak’s smoky shadow from California

adds mystery,

while Lotus Blossom’s elegance

floats like a soft breeze.

Mesquite’s desert earth hums low,

and Pure Southern Honey

wraps me in deep sweetness.

From the meadows of Turkey to the forests of Oaxaca,

each jar a story, a place, a moment;

Sunflower’s bright cheer from Ukraine,

and the savory pine and thyme of Crete’s hills.

Exotics whisper wild tales;

Stingless Bee’s sour treasure from Borneo,

Tualang’s bittersweet medicine from Sumatra,

and Miombo’s smoky molasses from Zambia.

Flavored and barrel-aged,

peach and strawberry dance with bourbon’s smoky kiss,

while Lucille’s honey, aged in beer barrels,

tells a story of craft and care,

of barrels reborn as furniture,

of sweetness wrapped in sustainability.

My love for honey is a journey;

a map of flavors, places, and hands,

each jar a poem,

each taste a celebration.

Not just sweetness, but stories,

not just nectar, but connection;

a liquid gold thread weaving through my days,

a honeyed song that never ends.