Simple Pleasures

Simple pleasures are easier to recognize and appreciate as I get older. I'm no longer skipping or stumbling blithely through life, focused on the future while the present slips through my fingers. Right now, I'm appreciating, I'm acknowledging, I'm savoring...

Fresh berries! Strawberries are gone and blueberries are almost over, but it is the peak of fresh raspberry season. My friend Chris not only grows her own (the very best raspberries are home-grown) but she shares them with me. I've come to appreciate the whole "eat local" philosophy; the closer you are to the source of that food -- the less it travels and ages and taxes the environment -- the richer the flavor in my mouth. Berries from Chris come from one block away.

Sometimes I drizzle a bit of chocolate sauce, or have a spritz of whipped cream, or just a tablespoon or two of vanilla ice cream. But I’m delighted to enjoy a scoop of berries a la nothin’ -- fresh and pure and perfect; a mouthful of summer sunshine.

The season will be over in a heartbeat, and I’ll be left to enjoy the only winterberry this midwesterner appreciates: the liberry.