Plum and Nectarine Crisp

People with plum trees experience an annual dismay, as well as pleasure, when the fruits finally appear. The trees bear heavily for a few weeks, or many weeks if one has several varieties, the yard is covered with falling fruit, and the owner is overwhelmed. My mother has a plum tree, and she once arranged to get rid of a few fruits by baking a plum crisp for me on the eve of a long car trip to the Southwest. The next morning I enjoyed a sunrise breakfast at Mono Lake—the plum crisp with a