a silly little thing

My Facebook status this morning read:

Agenda for our first day of summer break: strawberry picking, making jam, swimming.
Weather for our first day of summer break: cloudy and raining. Bummer!

So we didn't get to head into the acres of strawberry fields, stooping low to find those sweet berries, tasting a few as we go (ahem), and staining our fingers red.  Maybe next time.

There was a moment where I was truly worried.  I've been quietly waiting for those roadside signs, made of wood and hand-painted, that read STRAWBERRIES - 1 MILE. Two days ago my van rounded the bend and there it was - that Amish farm sign with that sweet, sweet message - the strawberries are ready!

 The strawberries are ready, just as we are preparing to leave our home and travel to the much warmer air of Texas where there will be no such sweetness this time of year.  There will be water, lots of it.  And family and cousins, and relaxing, and swimming.  But my stubborn mind was anxious to put away freezer jam before this short berry season passed us by.

I did manage to buy 4 quarts of berries this morning and was able to get jam loaded in the freezer.  And, the kind lady at the farm stand assured me the berries would still be ripening when we return from our vacation.  

How silly to fret over a few jars of jam.  How silly to worry that we'd miss the season.  Sigh!

So I'm moving from my silly, but very yummy jam, to packing, laundry, packing, and... did I say packing!

May you know the seasons and all their blessings in every ounce of your being and may you have the sense to stay rooted in this very present moment!