A Sweet Life

Last night I enjoyed a salad (made by Uncle Chris) that truly celebrates this special time of year–the in between time when summer is not yet gone and fall is not quite fully here.

I love these transition-y feeling times. To me, they are a nature-inspired time to both reflect on the past and look forward to the future. How lucky I feel that I can do so while savoring the fruits of the delicious present: the sweet-tart raspberries from my parents’ yard, and sacred huckleberries I helped gather in the mountains, and about whom I lovingly write in my recently released book, Huckleberries and Coyotes.

While I savor these fruits, I reflect on how the summer went.

I also plan for how I’d like fall to go.

I think about the time between now and the next transition–when fall will be giving way to winter. What delights will I anticipate, plan, and work toward?

These beautiful berries remind me to take time to envision my dreams and to create a nurturing plan so my dreams may ripen to gorgeous shades of deep raspberry red and shiny huckleberry purple.

This is, I believe, one of the secrets to a sweet life.