I was just reminiscing about the beautiful herb garden I had growing up.

setup: I was just reminiscing about the beautiful herb garden I had growing up.

[Podcast Host] qua headphones, soft tones, microphone, candle burning Welcome back to Soft Memories. My guest tonight, Bill Berger, takes us into his childhood herb garden. Bill, take us there.

[BILL] qua sweater, mug of tea, voice slightly catching My mother’s herb garden. Behind the kitchen. Three by six feet. A wooden box.

[Podcast Host] What grew there.

[BILL] Rosemary. Sage. Oregano. Basil in the summer. Thyme.

[Podcast Host] Thyme.

[BILL] Thyme. Always thyme. Every spring.

[Podcast Host] Good thyme?

[BILL] Good thymes.

[Shakes] qua sound engineer, beaming This is the best of all possible memoirs.

[Podcast Host] Plural.

[BILL] Plural. There were many thymes. Lemon thyme. English thyme. Creeping thyme. My mother kept them in rotation. We never lacked for thyme.

[Podcast Host] The word is doing a lot of work here, Bill.

[BILL] I am aware.

[Podcast Host] Tell me about the afternoon thyme.

[BILL] Afternoon thyme was for chicken. We had chicken on Wednesdays.

[Podcast Host] And the Sunday thyme?

[BILL] Sunday thyme was for the roast. Sunday thyme is the thyme I miss most.

[Podcast Host] Bill, are you crying?

[BILL] I’m losing time talking about thyme.

[Manyfeek] qua small bundle of dried thyme tied with kitchen twine, on a shelf behind them ((FROM THE SHELF)) I have been on this shelf for eight years. Nobody has cooked with me. I am no longer thyme. I am dust.

[Podcast Host] Mort.

[Manyfeek] Time is also dust.

[Podcast Host] Bill. Final thought.

[BILL] ((QUIETLY)) I should call my mother.

[Podcast Host] Why.

[BILL] She has the rest of the thymes.

punchline: Good thymes.