Natural Abundance

The local blackberries are in full bounty here and literally everywhere! I picked these tonight in my yard. I've discovered that if I wait to pick them until they are big, dark and just a little tender they are the most sweet. I have never tasted anything this sweet that I've picked from my own yard, they are so delicious! I wish I could share them with you!
Today it was only 80 degrees and it felt so nice - I checked the forecast and it is supposed to stay in the low 80's or high 70's for the next five days. I love this time of year when it starts to cool off a bit but it is still very pleasant.

The hard drive in my laptop died this week and so I am typing this on my new iPad ! In just a few days I can already see why people love these tablets. The only thing that is a little different is not being able to connect my camera to download photos directly to the iPad but other than that I really like it.  (However the camera on this is awesome so maybe I'll just start using that instead.)

It has been a fairly quiet week for me and I have been thinking about how simple my life is right now. In fact it is probably the most simple as it has ever been. I've been a mother since I was seventeen and so I have been worried about taking care of children since I was a child. I feel that I have been a damn good mother. Now, I am enjoying having some time to get to know myself without children or family closeby. It isn't that I don't miss them, because I do. I just realize that for me, this distance allows me to really get to know me without anyone telling me who I should be or expecting things from me because that is the way it has been done in the past. If I had gone away to college at age seventeen instead, perhaps I would've already figured this stuff out. But truly, I think a lot of women go through this stage when their family is grown and start to wonder, "Who am I? What do I want? What do I want to accomplish with the rest of my life?" I find myself looking very candidly at myself which seems easier to do because I spend so much time by myself.  I feel that this time is a gift and I am very thankful to be in the present moment discovering new things about myself. It isn't all pleasant - sometimes it is very painful and messy but once I get through that stuff there is always something good on the other side of it. I'll keep you posted on my discoveries, but right now I am going to go eat some delicious blackberries.