Wild Fruits

"Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree. What the general reader or the critic makes of them is not my concern." -Henry Miller

The generosity and bounty of Mother Nature astounds me every day. Especially when there are delicious edibles in reach. Yesterday morning while walking the dog Ramon and I literally ate our way along the path, beginning with wild raspberries and ending with wild sour cherries. At the top you see the wild apples we found, rosy and freckled, dripping with rain, heavy on their branches. I'm guessing they will be fully ripe in September, and believe me, I will be there with a basket harvesting them, and turning them into pies and sauce. When you are a small individual like me, it is always wise to have a larger individual, like my dear husband, to reach for the higher , more obscure fruits. Yesterday, as I wandered to a cherry tree farther down, Ramon called over, "Hey, stick with me, I'll get you the ones from high up!" And I smiled and thought, Yeah, stick with him, you're a team, and not just with fruit picking. 

The blackberries are still hard, tiny fists among white and pink papery flowers, but there are thousands and counting. What a blessing to have these fields and thickets right close by. I am left wondering, what can I possibly give in return?

On another note, I should mention that the afternoon walk turned into quite an adventure. It was sticky hot, with black clouds, but we thought the worst that could happen was a drizzle. After walking up the hill with the pretty villas and gardens and then turning back around at the church, the sky broke open with a thunder crack and all of a sudden it was pouring buckets! We started walking quickly, which then turned into a mad dash, and we ended up squealing and laughing all the way home, soaked with rain from top to bottom. I can't tell you how invigorating and absolutely fantastic it was! We felt like children again, and were still laughing as we struggled out of our wet clothing and hung them to dry. So now we know, getting caught in a rainstorm is a pretty wonderful thing.